Lightning Destroys 160-year-old Pennsylvania Barn

August 20, 2009

A crack of lightning sparked a raging fire that left a 160-year-old barn in Pennsylvania a smoldering ruin.

Farmer Jacob Zook says he heard “one loud crack” during a thunderstorm that roared across the region Tuesday night. He says 10 minutes later, his barn was engulfed in flames.

He says no one was hurt and no livestock were killed.

The primary concern for firefighters was the lack of a public water system. Water to fight the blaze was brought in from a cistern and by tanker trucks running shuttles from a local creek.

Compounding the water problem were trees brought down by the same storm that ignited the barn.

Zook says parts of the large barn dated back to at least 1850.

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