SUMMERFIELD, N.C. — A bolt of lightning struck outside a Summerfield family's home Thursday catching a tree on fire.
The blaze threatened the Tysinger family's home which was destroyed by a fire once before.
Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading beyond the tree. It started after storms rolled through.
"Seeing it in person was crazy," Kelly Tysinger said. "40 feet up the tree it was just an inferno."
The family was on a Father's Day getaway three hours away when a friend called them. Andrea Knipp's family saw the smoke from the highway.
"Our son yelled out, 'I think they have something on fire'. I was like, 'really?' So we turned around since we were in charge of the house while they were gone," Knipp said. "As we were pulling in you could tell that the smoke was getting heavier."
She sent photos to the Tysingers as firefighters worked to put out the fire. It brought back feelings that were too familiar.
"How is this possible," Knipp said. "Twice within a couple of years to go to this again."
It might be the first time lightning struck the Tysingers but it's not the first time a fire has.
WFMY News 2 talked to them back in 2019 when their home burned down due to a chimney issue.
"It went up while we were sleeping," Tysinger said. "By God's grace, the only thing that saved us was our smoke detectors that were working."
The Tysingers stayed with the Knipps for the first few weeks of the 10 months it took them to rebuild their home.
Years later, the Tysingers found themselves facing the same fear.
Firefighters told the family that the flames kept coming back because the source of the fire was deep inside the tree.
Kelly and the kids drove all the way home to guard the house through the night.
"The thought of going through what 2019 and 2020 were was just unbearable," Tysinger said.
Firefighters finally extinguished the tree around 3 a.m. Friday with no damage to the home.
The family returned to their vacation grateful for the watchful eyes of their neighbors. Many tried to put the fire out with garden hoses until firefighters arrived.
"I'm just grateful for the community. I'm grateful for the fire department and I want people to be aware of what they're doing with fires and it being so dry and hot," Tysinger said.
Friday's round of storms knocked the burned tree down without causing any damage to the property.