BLAZING VIDEO: Lighting Strike Ignites Hubbard Paint, Closes Route 28

EXCLUSIVE Hyannis News video coverage will load at the bottom of this page... also seen on FOX NEWS 25 and CHANNEL 7 WHDH. 

HYANNIS- At approximately 6:45pm a large lighting storm was overhead when a Hyannis Firefighter was grabbing a bite to eat at Pizzaria Uno.  Suddenly he heard the familiar loud bang of a fuse blowing on a nearby electrical transformer. 

At the same time Hyannis Fire Department received at least two fire alarms, one from the Budget Host Hotel, the other from Hubbard Paint…

Barnstable Police were notified that a passerby saw flames coming from Hubbard Paint.

The response from both firefighters and police was immediate, and Hyannis News arrived at just about the same time.  Firefighters went about their tasks of lining up and charging hoses.  Police closed Hinckley Road and Route 28 from the Airport Rotary all the way down to Nightingale Lane.

Firefighters needed to break in the front door and set up ladders to the rooftop area on the east side of the building.  They made sure all necessary water lines were completely charged before breaking a window and exposing the flames to open air.  Depriving the fire of oxygen until the last possible moment helped contain the flames and prevented further damage to the business. 

The flames were knocked down relatively quickly as soon as the window was smashed in.  Due to the efficiency of Hyannis Firefighters, who were also assisted by COMM Firefighters, only about one third of the building was damaged- most damage was contained to the roof area on the east side of the building.

In a brief interview, Deputy Chief Melanson and Barnstable Police Fire Investigator John York were able to confirm that the blaze resulted from a lightening strike.  Hyannis News learned that lighting did cause the transformer located on a pole just outside the building to blow; which explains why officials received more than one alarm, lightening travels the wires, messing up all types of nearby electrical systems, including fire and burglar alarms.  The jolt of electricity also shot along wires to Hubbard Paint, frying phone lines networked inside a box just under the roof on the east side of the building- phone lines are usually low voltage and don’t carry enough juice to cause a fire, it was the lightening which caused them to catch fire. 

The sprinkler system inside the structure did come on and added to the damage inside.  A disaster cleanup team was on scene and working at the time of this report (9pm). 

Route 28 was shut down for over an hour and a half, opening back up shortly before 8:45pm.

Nobody was injured as a result of the fire.