Posted by Ned Dannenberg - email

MURFREESBORO, TN (WSMV) -A fire possibly started by lightning woke up a family and nearly a dozen young girls they were hosting for a slumber party in Murfreesboro early Saturday.

Crews were called to the Coley's home on Cherry Blossom Lane around 2:30 Saturday morning, just as storms and lightning were passing through.

The Coleys said they were hosting 11 freshmen girls for a sleep over party for their daughter, as part of a church retreat. The rumbles of thunder woke up some of the teens. "It knocked one or two of them off the sofa because the noise was so loud when it happened, so they were pretty hysterical," said Greg Coley.

"It really scared some of the girls and then the alarm started going off, the fire alarm," Ginger Coley said.

Firefighters say there was extensive damage on the upper floor of the home, and that it was rather unusual for the lightning to hit the roof the way it did.

The family said if the girls hadn't been there, they might not have jumped up as quickly to go check on them and might not have smelled the fire as quickly and could have lost the whole top floor.

The Coleys said they will spend the next few days with relatives.

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