Stephen Busker and Judy Confer were pulling out of their driveway Sunday afternoon to head to a friend’s house for a barbecue when lightning struck.

“Boy, that was really close,” Busker recalls saying. What he didn’t realize at the time was that the lightning had struck a palm tree in his backyard.

Busker said he received a call from a neighbor while he was at the barbecue telling him that his house was on fire.

He said the fire department was already there when they got back home.

Assistant Fountain Hills Fire Chief Dave Ott said crews responded to the call reporting the fire at about 4 p.m. The residence is in the 14000 block of Silverado Drive.

Ott said crews responded quickly and the fire was confined to the rear patio and the home’s exterior.

Busker said about three or four trees in the backyard were destroyed as well as everything on the patio, including furniture.

The strike blew out a back patio window and some flames spread to the eaves of the roof.

“This is one of those things that happens to someone else,” Busker said.

Rich Tews and his daughter Brittany went outside on their back patio to enjoy the cooler air and see the lightning show when the bolt struck the palm tree.

“(It) struck about 50 feet from our back door with a resounding crash,” Rich Tews said. “It’s amazing how loud a lightning strike is…

“Within 30 seconds I was on the phone with 911 and the fire department. In the time it took to get the phone the top of the tree was a flaming inferno.”

The fire quickly spread to other trees due to high winds.

Ott added, “The crew made a fast ground attack while the remote control of the deck gun on the new engine provided a quick knockdown of the fire in the palm trees.”

This was the first fire assignment for the new engine that was just placed in service after training late last week.

The damage was confined to the exterior of the structure and the patio area. It is estimated by fire officials that there is approximately $25,000 in damage.

“It was a scary afternoon that could clearly have been much more devastating if not for the actions of the local fire department,” Rich Tews said.

One firefighter sustained a broken foot while fighting the fire. He was transported to Scottsdale Healthcare Shea hospital for treatment.

Fort McDowell Fire Department provided back-up in the community for the Fountain Hills units.

Smoke from dump

Ott also reported the fire department received numerous calls regarding smoke in the community on Sunday.

He said a wind shift was blowing smoke from a fire at the Salt River Landfill into the community.