Teen in treehouse struck by lightning

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - A 19-year-old man is listed in fair condition at Rhode Island Hospital after he was struck by lightning Sunday night in a treehouse at a North Providence home.

The victim, identified late Monday morning as Matt Leathers, suffered burns over much of his body during a fast and furious thunderstorm that rolled through the area Sunday afternoon.

Leathers had been sitting on the steps of the treehouse on Salem Drive.

His neighbor, Ariana Petrosinelli, said she heard a loud crack when the bolt struck. Leathers was knocked unconscious for a few minutes, she said. Petrosinelli's mother called 911.

The strike was violent enough to propel pieces of the treehouse ladder 30 feet into a neighbor's yard.

Around the same time, lightning struck a home on Fruit Hill Avenue, causing a fire that left the home unlivable.