Glenorie: Lightning strike destroys a 10-bedroom home in Sydney with a huge fire erupting at the property – as distraught family miraculously escape

A massive lightning strike is believed to have caused a huge fire that destroyed a 10-bedroom house during a storm on Wednesday evening.

The fire was still burning at the house in Sydney’s northwestern suburb of Glenorie late into the night, several hours after it ignited around 7.30pm.

Dozens of NSW Rural Fire Service crews and about 70 firefighters were still on the ground extinguishing the remnants of the blaze by midnight at the site 45km from Sydney’s CBD.

When the storm that previously swept through the area flared up again, strong winds fanned the fire’s flames but also brought welcome rain, which helped extinguish the fire.

The distraught family of seven managed to escape the burning house and were reportedly staying with friends nearby.

Channel 9 News reported that the size of the fire, which engulfed the large house, made it a very dangerous situation for firefighters when they arrived.

‘It was quite hot. it was a pretty big fire. It extended across the entire roof cavity,” said Matthew Lloyd from the NSW RFS.

“So unfortunately, despite the good work of all the crews, the house is likely a total loss.”

The size of the fire and the resulting danger disrupted crew efforts earlier in the evening.

Mr Lloyd said they “shut down our internal operations quite quickly due to the roof collapse and the fire in the building”.

But they were able to tackle the problem again and get it under control, despite the fact that it was still not completely eradicated.

Residents and other locals believe a lightning strike caused the fire, but this has not been verified by crews.

Firefighters are expected to be on site throughout the night to ensure the fire does not reignite or spread.