Lightning flashed through the darkness over Donald Lubeck’s bedroom skylight£®The 80-year-old retired worker was shaken by a blast of thunder£®It was 11 p£®m£®The storm had moved directly over his two-story wood home in the rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts£®Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping£®Lubeck padded down the stairs barefoot and opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out£®

Lubeck fled back upstairs to call 119 from his bedroom ,but the phone didn’t work£®Lubeck realized he was trapped£®“I started panicking,” he says£®

His daughter and young granddaughters ,who lived with him ,were away for the night£®No one will even know I’m home, he thought£®His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by pines that Lubeck knew calling for help would be fruitless£®