JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- An Oceanway couple lost a home that had been in the family for more than 100 years when lightning struck and burned the house to the ground Sunday night.

As Henry McNair and Deon Gamble look at the charred remains of their home, they are glad they were able to escape with their lives.

The couple thought they were doing the right thing by turning off the television Sunday evening and telling their 10-year-old son to get to bed.

Looking back, that request probably saved his life.

"Not even five minutes from the time that I told him to go in the room and go to bed, lightning hit the living room exactly where he was sitting," recalled McNair.

But the lightning sparked a fire that spread through the wooden house so fast it left the family scrambling to escape.

Now, the family is frustrated by how long they had to wait before firefighters arrived.

"It took them a long time. They kept transferring me back to Nassau County, back to Duval County," explained Gamble. "I just felt like they could have got out here quicker. There's a fire station right over there on Yellow Bluff Road."

Jacksonville Fire and Rescue doused the blaze, but the home caught fire a second time when a spark from the first fire rekindled it.

Since the fire, neighbors have been stopping by, shocked by the damage. Many knew the couple's relatives, who had lived in the home several years earlier.

The family has received some help from the American Red Cross.

The young couple had been planning to marry in a few months, but now they'll have to put that on hold while they try to rebuild their lives. They did not have insurance on the home.