VIDEO/PHOTO: A lightning strike is blamed for destroying a Wilson County church during severe weather Thursday afternoon.
Neighbors said a fire started in the steeple of Spring Hill Presbyterian Church in Lucama, causing the roof to collapse. The fire took place on Springfield School Road, where several bystanders saw smoke and flames coming from the building.
Firefighters needed to break through the stained-glass windows in the sanctuary to enter the building.
It took over an hour and involved eight different departments to bring the fire under control, with more than a dozen fire trucks on site.
Church members arrived promptly and managed to salvage as much furniture as possible.
"The lightning hit the steeple, [and] the steeple caught on fire," Courtney Barfield, a neighbor, described.