Lightning strikes Lynn building

LYNN – Firefighters quickly extinguished an electrical fire in a clothes dryer at 9 Nahant St. Thursday afternoon.Neighbors noticed smoke coming from the second floor of the Ryan Chiropractic building at 1:24 p.m. and alerted firefighters who were checking a nearby automatic alarm activation. They rushed to the fire in less than a minute.Second floor apartment resident Sara Penarello got out of the building safely with her mother and infant. Ryan Chiropractic is located just off Broad Street between Gregg House and Girls Incorporated.”She heard a crash (of lightning), lost electricity, then realized there was smoke,” said District Fire Chief William Curran.Curran said a residential sprinkler kept the fire from spreading into the building’s loft.Firefighters assigned to Engines 1, 3 and 5 and Ladders 1 and 4 responded and declared the fire out at 1:58 p.m.Before resetting an electrical panel, Curran said residents and building owners should always check for smoke or any other sign of fire following an electrical disruption caused by lightning strikes or an outage.