TONGANOXIE, Kan. -- Lightning struck twice in Tonganoxie Thursday morning.
One bolt hit a house, traveled through the roof and down some metal edging in a bedroom wall, and set a mattress on fire. Kaylee Shriner, 7, was sleeping on the mattress at the time. Kaylee's younger sister was also in the room, sleeping in a separate bed.
The girls jumped up and ran to tell their parents.
"My mom thought that I was on fire, but I wasn't -- it was my bed," Kaylee Shriner said. "(Dad) was coming down the hallway, and we said, 'Dad, Dad, our room is on fire; my bed is on fire!'"
The girl's father attempted to smother the flames with blankets, but the fire was burning the mattress from the inside out. He then dragged the fiery mattress down the stairs and out the front door, getting minor burns on his hands, arms and legs.
"He said a bad word, and then Mom heard it, and then she went upstairs, and then she said a bad word, and there were lots of bad words around here," the 7-year-old said.
The girl's parents said they were worried that Kaylee had been injured when they saw black soot on her face and in her hair, but amazingly, she was fine.
"It was pretty scary; we're really lucky," said Trent Shriner, Kaylee's father.
"Had she been touching the cord or touching the wall in a different place, it might have been a whole different story," said fire Capt. John Callahan.
The Shriners decided to stay at a hotel for the night, which Kaylee thinks is a great adventure.
A few minutes after the Shriner home was hit, a church around the corner was also hit by lightning. That damage was minor.
More Lightning Strikes
In Kansas City, there were two lightning strikes on the city's east side at about 5:30 p.m. The first jolt sliced a light pole at its base. The second hit a 50-foot tree near East 43rd Street and Wayne Avenue, knocking it over in front of an empty house.
No one was injured, but neighbors said it sounded like a bomb exploded.
On the other side of the state line, lightning caused a house fire in Paola, Kan. Most of the damage was contained to the attic, but there was heavy smoke and water damage to the rest of the house. No one was home at the time.
Crews said it was difficult to get to the fire in Paola because there was such a heavy hailstorm that it was hard to see the road.
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