Quick-thinking neighbours called the fire service around 9.50pm on Saturday after hearing a loud bang and seeing smoke coming from the house in Calderbridge.
Fire crews from Whitehaven and Seascale tackled the blaze for almost three hours.
David Caddy, who lives at the bungalow but wasn’t home at the time, said that a telegraph pole was struck by lightning and the spark had travelled along cables into his roof space.
The property, which also suffered smoke damage to rooms, is now uninhabitable.
“It could have been much worse for me if I’d have been there,” David told The Whitehaven News . “If the fire had continued for 10 more minutes it would have taken my whole roof.”
He thanked neighbours for alerting the fire service so quickly and for also helping him to clean up. He was also grateful to firefighters.
It is understood that electricity and phone lines were off for some time in the village during the storm which lashed Copeland on Saturday night.
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