Lightning is possible cause of blaze at Maryland apartment house

A spectacular fire, possibly ignited by lightning, caused heavy damage Tuesday night to an apartment house in Maryland, according to the state fire marshal’s office.

The fire broke out in the Hagerstown area of western Maryland about 70 miles northwest of the District of Columbia.

No injuries or deaths were reported immediately. The three-story building had 37 apartments, and 74 occupants, the fire marshal’s office said.

The fire began on the roof, according to the fire marshal’s office. It said witnesses “described a potential lightning strike before the fire.”

A resident of the building told the Hagerstown Daily Mail that he thought lightning was responsible for the blaze.

When the lightning struck, Travis Nagle told the Hagerstown newspaper, “The whole building shook.”

Investigators are trying to confirm a cause, the fire marshal’s office said.

It said 70 firefighters took about an hour and a half to bring the blaze under control.

Flames leaped from the roof of the structure, and fire inside the building could be seen through several windows on the top floor.

If lightning is confirmed as the cause, the blaze would be one of the largest such fires in the Washington region.