A Cape Elizabeth home was damaged Sunday after it caught fire during a thunderstorm.

“We feel pretty certain at this point that it was a lightning strike,” said Cape Elizabeth Fire Chief Philip McGouldrick, which caused the fire at 43 Stonegate Road. The homeowners, Robert and Lynne Beal, were not in the house at the time of fire.

McGouldrick said the fire department received a call at 2:06 p.m. from a man in the area who smelled smoke and searched for the source of the fire. The volunteers at the Cape Elizabeth Fire Department had just responded to another call.

“Just the way it happened, everybody was here,” said McGouldrick.

He said the 40 firefighters were at the scene in two minutes along with seven firefighters from Scarborough and nine from South Portland. The fire was under control within a half-hour of the call.

McGouldrick said the roof burned off and, even though foam was used to extinguish the fire, the downpour from the storm that followed caused water damage. McGouldrick estimated $135,000 worth of damage was done to the house.