Glastonbury nursing home hit by lightning strike

By Laura Linham 26th Jun 2026

Local News by Laura Linham 2 hours ago

A Glastonbury nursing home was struck by lightning in the early hours of Friday, 26 June, causing a small electrical fire in one bedroom.

St Benedict's Nursing Home said the strike caused a fire in the en-suite of one bedroom. Emergency services, including the fire service and ambulances, attended the scene, and one resident was taken to hospital as a precaution.

A spokesperson for White Care Group said: "St Benedict's Nursing Home was struck by lightning in the early hours of Friday, 26 June. The strike caused a small electrical fire in the en-suite of one bedroom.

"Emergency services including the fire service and ambulances attended and one resident was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure and is being monitored. Their family has been informed, and we are here to support them.

"We are also doing everything possible to reassure and support our other residents. The emergency services did not consider it necessary to evacuate the building, so only six residents were temporarily moved out of their rooms while the incident was handled, and we are operating normally today.

Lightning strikes over Glastonbury moments before St Benedict's Nursing Home was struck (Photo: Fiona Brogan/https://wyrdraven.co.uk/

"The damage to the building was limited to one room and one ridge-tile on the roof. Some initial media reports indicated that the damage was considerably worse than, thankfully, is actually the case."

The fire service incident log said fire control received a call at 12.41 am reporting a lightning strike at a property in Glastonbury. Fire engines were sent to the scene after smoke was seen coming from the second floor.

Firefighters entered the residential building wearing breathing apparatus and tackled the fire on the second floor. Crews requested further resources, with two additional fire engines and support vehicles sent to the incident.

Stations listed as attending included Glastonbury, Street, Wells, Shepton Mallet, Bridgwater, Martock and Totnes. Firefighters also carried out checks inside the property to look for any spread of fire.

The fire service said all persons were accounted for. Police also said that, as far as they were aware, no one had been injured.

Equipment used at the scene included one hose reel jet, two 51mm attack jets, one covering jet, eight breathing apparatus, three thermal imaging cameras, a 13.5m ladder, a triple extension ladder and a roof ladder.

The incident was marked as closed, with the final fire service update issued at 5.51 am. Crews confirmed the fire was out before leaving the property.