Photo: Photo by Jeff Angelo
(Des Moines, IA) -- Des Moines Firefighters evacuated the residents of Brownstones On Grand at 201 Grand Avenue in downtown Des Moines after fire broke out in a corner unit.
WHO Radio Talk Show Host Jeff Angelo lives there and tells WHO Radio News residents heard what they thought was a loud thunder clap from a storm moving through the city.
"This is just our speculation, not the official word, but we think there was a lightening strike at the corner of the building at 2nd and Grand." Angelo said.
"So the unit there, the roof caught on fire, and the Des Moines Fire Department is here and they've broken through the roof." He said.
As the fire spread, firefighters broke through the roofs of two other units to contain the fire.
Angelo says the woman who lives in the corner unit is pregnant, and was not home when the fire broke out. He says she came home to find everything she owns destroyed.
The Des Moines Fire Department tells WHO Radio News they have not yet determined the cause of the fire.
No one was hurt.
Photo: Photo by Jeff Angelo