Barn catches on fire in Jemison after thunderstorm hits county
Published 5:04 pm Monday, June 9, 2014
A 30-year-old barn in Jemison caught on fire after being struck by lightning from a late afternoon thunderstorm Friday that hit parts of Chilton County.
The barn, located on County Road 171 in Jemison, caught on fire around 6 p.m. on Friday and burned to the ground within 30 minutes.
“It was a total loss,” Union Grove Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Lee Headley said on Monday. “By the time we arrived on the scene the barn was completely gone.”
Union Grove Volunteer Fire Department responded to the dispatch call but was unable to save the barn from being burned.
Headley said the owners of the barn heard the sound of the lightning hitting the barn, with a metal roof, that was filled with roughly 150 rolls of hay.
Although the owners of the barn asked to remain anonymous for the story, they did confirm the value of the hay was roughly $5,000.
“The barn was out in the middle of a big field,” Headley said.
Power outages affected more than 1,000 Alabama Power customers in Chilton County reported around 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Alabama Power spokesman Michael Jordan reported that by 7:30 p.m., 1,100 customers in Clanton were without power.
On Monday, Jordan said all power had been restored to the 1,100 customers who were without power on Friday.
The Central Alabama Electric Cooperative recorded 55 power outages Friday for Chilton County that were storm-related.
The National Weather Service in Birmingham issued a severe thunderstorm warning for all of central Chilton County until roughly 7:30 p.m. Friday.
It was shortly after 5:30 p.m. that the NWS indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing quarter size hail with damaging winds in excess of 60 miles per hour was located near Jemison and Thorsby and moving south at 10 miles per hour.
A severe thunderstorm watch continued until about 9 p.m. Friday.