Historic Falmouth Church among buildings hit by a sudden thunderstorm
FALMOUTH, NS — A fast-moving storm wreaked havoc in Hants County on Thursday, June 15, as firefighters were called to multiple reports of lightning strikes.
Shortly after 3pm, the Windsor Fire Brigade were called to a fire at a building on Gabriel Road in Falmouth where there was an active fire in the attic. Soon after, another call came in for a possible fire on O’Brien Street and then a fire at Falmouth Baptist Church. Around the same time, there was a report of a power pole on fire in Three Mile Plains.
Paul Maynard, deputy fire chief of Hantsport, was at the church fire along with about 50 firefighters.
“We have units from as far away as New Minas all the way to Brooklyn,” Maynard said as firefighters worked to gain better access to the fire in the spire of the 80-foot structure.
“The active fire was hard to reach,” he noted.
While on scene, dispatch alerted firefighters that conditions were favorable for more severe thunderstorms in the area and warned that there could be a chance of a tornado. Hearing that, air operations began to decline.
Tornado watch for Hants County has ended. The earlier severe thunderstorm warnings have also ended, but the watch remains in effect. We also have non-serious cells on the eastern mainland at the Canso Causeway. @kroniekherald #NSStorm pic.twitter.com/DZmsKk8kGn
— Allister Aalders (@allistercanada) June 15, 2023
He said the fire damage was limited to the tower, but there was water damage to most of the church. How much damage is unknown at this time.
The Falmouth Baptist Church, located at 404 Town Rd., dates back to the 19th century. According to the church’s website, it was founded in 1830 as an offshoot of the Windsor Baptist Church. Construction was completed in 1831. The congregation agreed that further expansion was necessary and in 1871 the existing church was built.
While the cause of the fire is being investigated, Maynard said they assume it was weather-related.
“Some witnesses said there was active lightning in the area, so we’re making that assumption, but we’ll go in and investigate,” he said.
“Right now we’ve had multiple lightning strikes in the area.”
Some smoke billows from the steeple of Falmouth Baptist Church. The fire department cut a hole for better access. pic.twitter.com/ZWdp0eg5J8
— Carole Morris-Underhill (@CMUnderhill) June 15, 2023
Homeowners are ‘very lucky’
“We had a big thunderstorm come through and after a few crashes we were called to a fire in a building on Gabriel Road,” said Jamie Juteau, the Windsor fire chief, who was present at that call.
He said one of his officers was nearby and reported smoke billowing from the roofline.
“When I arrived, smoke was coming out of the ridge cap on the roof and you could see where the lightning had hit the building,” said Juteau, who noted that the house was two stories.
A squad went in and put down the fire that had started in the attic. They then overhauled the building and made sure there was no expansion.
“We spent some time making sure it hadn’t spread all over the building just because a lightning strike can do that — it can follow power lines,” he said.
“For what it was, they were very lucky; not much damage.”
Juteau said the regional fire department worked well given the number of calls in a short time frame. Brooklyn attended the lightning strike in an apartment on O’Brien Street – the building sustained “negligible” damage – and everyone was at the church fire.
“This is just a good example of how our system works. We can support each other as chiefs and departments,” said Juteau. “Even though we had all these things in my district, I could have other area chiefs backing me up — just like we would back them up when they need it.”
Mutual aid from several fire departments in Annapolis Valley was also deployed.
