An empty house in the Staffordshire development was hit by a lightning strike, destroying the roof, Rincon Fire Chief Corey Rahn said.

The unoccupied house was hit and the attic “flashed and burned,” Rahn said. The attic was filled with foam insulation, however, and the fire put itself out.

“But there is major damage,” he said. “It smothered itself out. But there’s so much smoke and water damage from the hot water heater (erupting). There is major damage to the roof.”

A toilet in the house was white in color before the fire. It’s now black from all the smoke, and Rahn said there’s no hope of restoring the toilet to its original hue.

“There was so much smoke damage,” he said.

The Rincon Fire Department received its newest vehicle earlier this week, a pumper/tanker with a 2,500-gallon capacity. Rahn noted that new vehicle would have been nice to have had last week.

Rincon was one of four departments called in to battle a fire at Georgia-Pacific’s Savannah River Mill. Springfield and Guyton each sent a tanker, and the county fire department dispatched two pumpers and four tankers. It took 800,000 gallons to put out the fire.

The fire also brought down six major power lines that fed the mill, Rahn said.

“When the fire started, it cut the pumps down,” he said.

That meant alternative means had to be found to get water pumped until the mill’s diesel powered pump could be activated.

“They had enough well water to maintain the tankers,” Rahn said.

Firefighters were at the mill for approximately six hours putting out the fire in a remote part of the plant.