The owners of a Mulberry home may be some of the most unlucky people when it comes to weather. Their home has been struck by lightning, not once but twice.

Ronald Malone’s Mulberry home was struck by lightning on Wednesday afternoon. The lightning strike sparked a fire, destroying the five-bedroom home.

“We got struck by lightning once before," he said. "Like someone said, does lightning strike twice in one place? A couple years ago we had a lightning strike but it didn’t burn the house down."

That time, the lightning strike only damaged their electronics. This time, they weren’t as lucky.

And speaking of luck, Malone says his family also had another weather event that destroyed another one of their homes before this.

“When we lived in Kansas, what’s ironic about it is there, they’re known for tornadoes,” he said. “Well we actually had a tornado come through and just destroy most of our house there.”


The home was on the market for just under $1 million.

And here’s another twist. The family was actually trying to sell the home. It’s on the market for $989,900. But a sale is the furthest thing from Malone’s mind now.

So, what exactly makes the Malone family house so prone to lightning strikes?

Polk Fire and Rescue spokesperson Brad Ruhman said it’s all about location, location, location.

“Anytime you have those large houses in the middle of a pasture they would be prone to lightning strikes,” Ruhman said.

Ruhman said homeowners could protect themselves with lightning rods but admits it may not look as appealing on a million-dollar home.

Malone, who is now about to build another dream home, isn’t really worried about a lightning rod. Because what are the odds of this happening again, right?

Officials with Polk Fire Rescue say they had an increased amount of calls during Wednesday’s storms in Polk County. But this was the only home struck by lightning.