The Lakefield Fire Department responded to a call around 3:45 on Monday after lightning struck the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lakefield. Tim Baumann, Lakefield Fire Chief, talks about what happened…
“AT 3:45 this afternoon there was a bright light and a loud crack of thunder in town and 5 minutes later we were called to the Immanuel Church with smoke coming out of the roof and when we got there we confirmed there was smoke coming out of the roof from a couple different locations. We got up there with ladders and started opening up part of the roof and also went to the inside and started pulling down some insulation the foam insulation that was on fire.”
Baumann was thankful for the help from the Jackson Fire Department…
“We weren’t sure how fast it was going to spread so we called the Jackson Fire Department to come help with their ladder truck and they brought over 3 rigs and several fire personnel so that was greatly appreciated.”
Baumann says the church did sustain some damage…
“We were on the scene for about two hours. Tried not using a lot of water but better to get it put out then the rest of the church start on fire so other than burn damage there was also some water damage to the church and that will be assessed in the next day or two I guess.”
There were no injuries as no one was inside the church at the time the lightning struck. The Lakefield Fire Department, Lakefield police department, Lakefield ambulance, Jackson Fire department and Jackson ambulance all assisted at the scene.
