Did a meteor destroy a home in Northern California?

NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. —
Northern California officials are looking into if the bright ball of light seen in the sky Friday night is a meteorite that landed on and destroyed a Nevada County home.

Witnesses came from all over the region following the path of the bright ball in the sky to see where it landed and that path might have led to Dustin Procita’s home. He was inside the house with his two dogs when he said something hit his home and started a fire.

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

Procita lives in a quiet, rural area of rolling hills where cattle graze.

He said the area is home to multi-generational cattle farmers and ranchers. He had just fed the cows and sat on the couch listening to music when it hit his home.

He managed to save his rat terrier dog and tried to get back inside for his other family dog, but couldn’t save him. The dog died in the fire.

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

Penn Valley Fire Department Captain Josh Miller said they had a call around 7:30 p.m. for a structure fire but because of the secluded location, knew they would have a firefight on their hands.

“Wide, open spaces and this was out on a farm, a cattle ranch area with not much around it,” Miller said.

His firefighters, along with Smartsville Fire Department and CalFire, battled the flames for several hours.