CONNOQUENESSING TWP — No one was injured Thursday night after an apparent lightning strike set ablaze four interconnected condominiums in Brandywine Village.

Ten fire departments and more than 80 firefighters needed four hours to extinguish the fire at 1011 through 1014 Springfield Court, which broke out about 9:45 p.m.

"A woman in one residence smelled smoke and called 911, and shortly afterward a neighbor across the street saw flames on the roof and called 911," said Capt. Mike Kaufman of the Connoquenessing Volunteer Fire Company.

"From the onset we had flames showing, so we were behind the 8-ball from the start."

All four condominiums were destroyed, although the garages are still intact.

About eight people were safely evacuated from the building's four one-story units: couples in two of them and single adults in the other two, one of whom was baby-sitting children at the time.

The Butter County Chapter of the American Red Cross was on the scene, but each of the residents had family with whom they could stay, Kaufman said.

He said Thursday night's thunderstorms brought multiple cloud-to-ground lightning strikes through the area, one of which is believed to have started the blaze.

The state police fire marshal is investigating.