First responders stay busy as line of storms hit New England

Strong storms rolled through New England on Thursday producing heavy rain and lightning, which also meant power outages and downed trees.

Through the afternoon line of storms, first responders stayed busy, dealing with downed power lines and even a lightning strike on a house.

North Main Street in Providence produced some minor flooding at the height of rush hour, but to the north some neighborhoods were dealing with more than just water.

The line of storms packed a punch, with one ABC 6 viewer sending in video of a tree catching fire on a power line and creating loud bursts of electrical surges.

In North Attleboro, the fire department was dealing with a home that was hit by lightning on Colonial Road.

"[The homeowner] saw a flash on the TV and she saw smoke coming from the area where the lightning hit," said Chief Michael Brousseau. "[There was a] fire underneath the rear deck and smoke throughout the whole house so we had to pull apart the outside wall."

North Attleboro resident Bill Napolitano knows the family in the home and said he was stunned to hear about the unfortunate hit on the house.

"Very rare but it kind of brings things into perspective how lucky everybody is and was," he said.

Chief Brousseau said this type of incident is more common than you might think. He said the department deals with lightning strikes like this about once or twice a year.

Despite all the damage, no serious injuries were reported.