Lightning Strikes Play Havoc in Marlborough

Lightning strikes played havoc on alarm systems throughout Marlborough Wednesday night, sending firefighters across the city to 11 different locations.

“It’s typical of heavy storms coming through," said Deputy Fire Chief Fred Flynn who explained only one of the alarms was for an actual fire. "The lightning strikes and the lightning flashing across the sky, it makes a lot of the alarms go off but we have to investigate them because we don’t know if they are real or not real."

One of those alarms was real, with a lightning strike at the Lincoln Street Lofts triggering a small fire and setting off the sprinklers. Those sprinklers were , according to Flynn who explained that the strike itself mainly just charred the roof of the building.

“Typically lightning strikes don’t cause a lot of fire,” said Flynn who explained the strike hit directly above a sprinkler head.