California man believes meteorite may have destroyed home

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. — A California man believes that a meteor captured Friday night on dozens of security cameras may have destroyed his home.

The Penn Valley Fire Department is investigating what started the fire that destroyed Dustin Procita’s home in rural Nevada County on Friday evening, according to KCRA-TV.

Procita told the station that he had just finished feeding the cows and was listening to music while sitting inside his home with his two dogs, when he heard a loud noise.

“I heard a big bang. I started to smell smoke. I went onto my porch, and it was completely engulfed in flames,” Procita said.

Sadly, he could only rescue one of his dogs when he ran back into the burning home.

“I tried to go around to the windows but fire and smoke was dumping through, and I couldn’t see inside,” Procita told KCRA.

Penn Valley Fire Department Capt. Josh Miller said that witnesses started showing up at the burning home, wondering if the meteor they had seen earlier had started the fire.

“Everyone I talked to said it was a flaming ball falling from the sky and landed in that general area. I had one individual tell me about it first, and I put it in the back of my mind, but then more people — two, three, four — started coming in and talking about it,” Miller told KCRA.

Procita also wondered if a meteor had hit his home.

“I always watched meteor showers as a kid, but I didn’t want them landing in my yard or through my roof,” he told the station.

The fire department spent four hours trying to put out the fire that destroyed his home and a nearby vehicle.

According to KRCA, the Penn Valley Fire Department said it would take around two weeks to find out what caused the fire.

A GoFundMe was started for the family who said they lost everything in the fire.

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