Two displaced in Cañon City after lightning strikes tree near home

CAÑON CITY, Colo. (KRDO) - A woman and her neighbor were forced out of their home after lightning struck a tree ten feet away from a small duplex in downtown Cañon City.

Firefighters told the resident that the lightning then likely traveled underground, blowing out a stove and eventually starting a fire in the attic.

Crews had to cut through the walls to access the flames and put it out.

Neither resident can enter the home, and both have lost hundreds of dollars worth of belongings to fire or smoke damage.

"We don't have time to grab anything," Cyndi Romero said.

Cyndi says she heard the lightning strike the tree next to her house and branches falling into her yard. If it were not for a passerby walking past her house who smelled smoke, she wouldn't have known her house was on fire.

Romero, who is 70 years old and retired, works part-time as a transcriptionist while living on a fixed income.

She says finding another place to live will be tough. However, her community is beginning to band around her, as her family helps her find affordable living options.

The rental management company managing her previous home has offered her a small living space, but she's not sure what is next.

"I might just hit the road and go check out the offers and see what I can find and just start a new adventure again," Romero said.

"I know I'm not alone," she adds, "Nobody is alone."

If you would like to help Romero and her neighbor out with moving expenses and replacing what has been lost, click here for the GoFundMe.