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- Firefighters vent smoke and heat through the roof of a barn at 400 King St. in Oxford on Thursday afternoon. Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sacco said a bolt of lightning struck while a man was working in the barn. There were no injuries. (Oxford Fire Rescue/Chuck Blaquiere photo)
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- Smoke billows from a barn at 400 King St. in Oxford on Thursday afternoon while firefighters battle the blaze. Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sacco said a bolt of lightning struck while a man was working in the barn. There were no injuries. (Oxford Fire Rescue/Chuck Blaquiere photo)
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- Smoke billows from a barn at 400 King St. in Oxford after lightning struck the building Thursday afternoon. Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sacco said a man was working in the barn at the time and reported the fire. There were no injuries. (Matthew Daigle/Sun Journal)
OXFORD — Lightning struck a barn at 400 King St. on Thursday afternoon, causing at least $50,000 damage, Oxford Fire Chief Gary Sacco said.
The 30-by-50-foot barn, owned by a realty trust, housed a workshop.
A man working inside at the time reported the strike and called emergency officials, Sacco said.
“It was obviously due to the lightning strikes in the area,” he said. “One was right in their yard.
“We had received reports that there were several lightning strikes in the area of that barn, so we’re thinking one of them hit the barn.”
There was structural damage to the interior and to the roof.
“We had to open up parts of the ceiling to be able to get at the fire,” Sacco said.
While he estimated damage to the building at at least $50,000, there was no estimate on the loss of equipment inside the barn.
Fire departments from Oxford, Paris, Norway, Otisfield, Casco, Poland and New Gloucester responded.
A section of King Street was shut down for nearly an hour while firefighters doused the flames.
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