Did a meteorite start house fire in Northern California?

PENN VALLEY, Calif. - Firefighters and investigators are trying to figure out if a meteorite was responsible for a fire that burned down a man's home in Northern California.

The blaze broke out at Dustin Procita's home Friday night in a rural area of Nevada County, north of Sacramento.

Procita said he was at home when he heard a big bang and started to smell smoke.

Then he discovered his porch was on fire.

As firefighters worked to put it out, people started showing up to his house because they said they saw a bright flash in the sky.

Firefighters haven't dismissed the idea that the fire could have been started by a falling meteorite. 

"I had one individual tell me about it first and I put it in the back of my mind. But then more people — 2, 3, 4 — started coming in and talking about it," said Josh Miller of the Penn Valley Fire Department. He said it will likely take two weeks to determine the cause of the fire.

For his part, Procita said he's feeling relatively lucky, even though the fire destroyed his house. 

No one suffered any injuries.  

"They said it's a 1 in 4 trillion chance so I guess I might be buying a lottery ticket today," he said. 

KCRA contributed to this report.