LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Tennis player Chanda Rubin's house burned during an intense thunderstorm, and lightning was a likely cause, Lafayette fire officials said Thursday.
The 1990s tennis star was the only person in the house; she got out safely after her alarms alerted her to the fire shortly after 9 p.m. Wednesday, fire department spokesman Alton Trahan said Thursday.
The whole roof and the attic and portions of the second story are completely gone,'' Trahan said.The first story is OK. There's a lot of water damage on the first floor, obviously.''
He said lightning was particularly intense in Rubin's neighborhood and may have touched off the fire, which started in the attic. Investigators were returning in daylight.
Numerous calls from alarm system, neighbors and Rubin came in within a few minutes of each other, starting at 9:07 p.m., Assistant Chief Jerry Delhomme said.
He said trucks were at the house within minutes, and firefighters stayed for two hours.
Rubin, 34, won seven singles titles on the WTA Tour and reached as high as No. 6 in the rankings in 1996. Her deepest run at a Grand Slam came that year, when she reached the semifinals at the Australian Open.
She was unseeded but won the Eastbourne International tournament in 2002. Her last singles titles were in Eastbourne and Madrid in 2003, according to the WTA website.
It said she withdrew from a half-dozen tournaments this year because of a variety of injuries. She won only one match in the seven events she did appear in.