SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. -- A massive fire chased a family of four out of their home on Radisson Place near Alafaya Trail (see map) Tuesday night. The Oviedo family says they heard a loud boom and realized their house was on fire.

Flames gutted the more than $500,000 home after a lightning bolt struck the roof. The homeowner says it took firefighters too long to respond.

"I just saw lightning hit on the back porch and there was a big, I don't know. I smelled smoke five minutes later," said the homeowner who did not want to be identified. "We called 911 and it took them over 20 minutes to get the house."

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AT THE SCENE: Images Show Flames Leap From Home
iWITNESS VIDEO: Home Video Posted On WFTV.com

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Greg Kirby works with the Seminole County Fire Department and says crews were on scene within 10 minutes after the original 911 call.

By the time firefighters arrived the fire had already spread to the attic of the home. It took more than 30 minutes to get the blaze under control.

The national standard for response time is five minutes, but officials said there were reasons for the delay.

"Heavy traffic was an issue, heavy, heavy weather so that kind of played a factor in how crews responded," said Kirby.

There were dozens of calls for service at the same time as the massive house fire. In Seminole County, between 6:45pm and 7:45pm Tuesday night there were 32 calls for service.

Firefighters say when they got to the gated community, the gate was locked tight. They had to call dispatch to get the code to get inside.

"They do have a database for this particular community. Within seconds they had access to the gate," he said.

Firefighters said the home was a complete loss and even though it was an emergency, they would not plow-down the gate to get inside the community.

"It is something that you don't necessarily think about," said neighbor Dave Sazama.

They say waiting for dispatch to get the code is the fastest way to get inside any gated community during an emergency.

The gate is supposed to open automatically for emergency vehicles and the homeowners' association said they plan on calling the gate company to make sure it's in working order.