Carrier Mills fire department burns after lighting strike

Carrier Mills/Saline County-- A lighting strike on the Carrier Mills municipal building caused a fire early Monday morning.

The strike apparently occurred sometime overnight during the round of storms that passed through the area. The lighting strike caused insulation near the circuit breaker box to begin smoldering. When a custodian opened the building shortly after 6 a.m. Monday morning, smoke filled building.

The Carrier Mills fire department was called to put out the fire at their own fire station. Fire Chief Jerry Choat told the Daily Register his department was called out at about 6:15 a.m. and found an area in the ceiling of the fire truck bays on fire. Harrisburg fire department was called on for mutual aid and, using their thermal camera, assisted the Carrier Mills fire fighters in localizing and extinguishing the fire.

"We had it knocked down pretty quickly," Choat said.

The fire knocked out the electricity, radios, computer and storm sirens in the fire department. The fire damaged doors, ceiling joists and insulation and destroyed a section of the ceiling in the fire department. The electrical surge from the lighting strike also severely damaged the computer system in the village water department, which is also located in the municipal building. The rest of the electrical system in the municipal building was undamaged though the entire building received smoke damage.

The State Fire Marshal conducted an investigation into the fire on Monday and officially listed the cause as lighting strike. The village's insurance company signed off on starting repairs late Monday afternoon. In this emergency situation, the usual bidding process is being waived in order to expedite repairs.

Derek Field Electrical of Carrie Mills is repairing the electrical system.

"I think the radios and storm siren system were not damaged by the lighting strike," Derek Field said. "We won't know until we get power back on, but I think they will be all right. I'm not sure about the computer, though."

The building is essentially undamaged structurally and the fire chief said the department is taking the incident stride.

"We are operating as usual and plan on going ahead with our Boston Butt Barbeque this weekend," the fire chief said.