Dustin Procita was at his Nevada County house with his two dogs on Friday when he heard a “loud explosion” in the normally peaceful neighborhood, he told NBC affiliate KCRA.
A man’s home in Northern California may have been damaged last week by a meteor captured on film that “looks like a blazing basketball”
Dustin Procita was at his home with his two dogs on Friday in Nevada County, around 60 miles northeast of Sacramento, when he heard a “loud blast” in his normally tranquil neighborhood, he told Sacramento’s NBC network NBC affiliate KCRA.
Procita told KCRA, “I began to smell smoke, and as I approached my porch, it was engulfed in flames.”
The Penn Valley Fire Department received a call about the blaze at 7:26 p.m. and arrived to the Englebright Dam Road residence.
Cal Fire spokesperson Mary Eldridge told NBC News that the fire was extinguished around three hours later with aid from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Eldridge reported that a dog perished in the blaze that destroyed a residence, a travel trailer, and a pickup truck.
Authorities are examining whether a meteorite hit Procita’s residence.
“That is a possible cause, but it’s too early to specify one,” said Fire Captain Clayton Thomas.
“During the incident, a large number of witnesses attended the fire station to report seeing a possible meteorite fall in the neighborhood,” the witness said.
What we have not yet seen is a video or a witness stating that the object struck a structure.