Jun 19, 2009

Fire!

Severe thunderstorms ripped through my area around 10:30 today. The skies were so dark, one would think it was 9PM.


As I looked out the door of my office building, thunder boomed and lightning cracked so loud and so close, I jumped back from the door. A few minutes later....


I saw smoke coming from the church kitty-corner from my office! Immediately, I called 9-1-1 and the fire department was dispatched. Believe it or not, it took SEVEN MINUTES before we heard sirens and saw the engines pull up.

Despite the torential rain coming down, the steeple erupted in flames two different times. Luckily, there was only one person in the church. I don't know if she knew the steeple was on fire or not. I tried to call the church after contacting 9-1-1, but the line was busy.

(Sorry about the poor pic. I took it through the office doors and there's reflections)

My coworker was heartbroken to see her church on fire. The steeple was just put on the church a couple years ago.

What is amazing is that by 11:30... fire was out, fire trucks gone, skies cleared up, and the sun was shining!

It was reported in a community just west of me, there were winds in excess of 50MPH and 1/2" diameter hail.

18 comments:

Nancy M said...

Good thing someone was paying attention. The damage could have been much worse! We are getting your storms here today. We are under a Tornado watch & flood watch. We had quite the lightening and thunder at 4:30am and lots of rain, as proven by my wet carpet downstairs!

Kathy said...

It's weird weather all over. We are having more rain today, tomorrow and Sunday. :( Makes it 3 weeks.

Donna said...

Oh my! Glad no one was hurt though. We have that kind of weather in Texas a lot. You know my house was hit by lightning on Mother's Day. But no fire, just a loss of most electrical stuff.

Julie M said...

Glad you were on the ball and they got it out before too much damage occurred. The storms have been wicked the last few weeks!

htimcj said...

Well, there's a bit of excitment for you. I am glad that the fire department was able to put it out without too much damage and that no one was hurt.
Heidi-ILCS

CJ in OK ;-) said...

Your call was the churches blessing. The steeple can be fixed, it could have been the whole church. So much harsh weather this spring, it's really affecting lots of people. CJ ok;-)

Rachel S-H said...

So glad you saw it and called 911. I hope this weather gets back to normal. It's been so rainy here that the cherry crop was lost. I guess we needed it because of the drought, but we could stand to not have it.

Mel said...

Wow that is intense!
So glad you called it in! :)

Mary said...

I'm glad you were there to call 911 to save the building. How scary! We seem to be sunny for 1/2 day or 1 day and then rain for 4-5. We did get a break today so that is sort of breaking the trend but it will be back to the rain tomorrow. I needed the sun so I was glad for even the tiniest bit.

I hope the dangerous weather passes by for you soon!

Cindy said...

I was driving up I-39 to Wisconsin yesterday around 10 AM, and the sky looked pretty darn threatening. I think that I was lucky and got through there before the worst of it hit. It's a good thing that you noticed the fire! That is so scary when lightning strikes that close. We had a strike in our front yard a few years ago, and it made the house shake and left a pretty good hole in the lawn.

Alberta said...

Meari your quick action probably kept the damage to a minimum. You get my vote of Good Citizen of the Month.

Gabi said...

Wow, that's a scary weather there. Good on you to be alert and warning the fire department.

Katrien (ILCS) said...

Lucky you saw it happening!

Kristin said...

How scary but thank God you saw it happen and called 911 immediately.

CindyMae said...

Thank goodness you seen that and called when you did. Your fire dept sounds much like ours LOL! So glad that no one was hurt!

EvalinaMaria said...

I'm voting with Alberta. You are a Good Citizen. And thank goodness for not much damage.

Anonymous said...

Glad the fire wasn't any worse.
The weather has been crazy lately.

Debra said...

wow, great pictures.