Last Tuesday a branch fell on a powerline and there was a major powersurge at my house. Some things blew and others did not. The furnace attempted to kick on soon after this happened with a loud grinding-type noise. Since then it doesn't work at all. It's an oil burner (yes, there is oil in it), with an old screw-in button type fuse in which the spring and metal piece are completely intact. Did try to replace it, but that didn't fix the problem. I simply don't know enough about this to have an answer. I don't know if oil burners even have a pilot light that could've gone out. Everything in the house is electric and the other items in the same area work fine, including the water heater, water softener and water pump.
Any suggestions?

I couldn't figure out how to edit my answer, so I'm including something this way. One other interesting point is that when I turn the heat up with the thermostat, there is no spark anymore. Could I just need a new thermostat?

Maybe just the fuse at the furnace, or on the furnace control board.