Church Struck By Lightning
380 views · Published 17 July 2013 · 2:04 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: WLOS News 13 · 2013 · News & Politics
A driver saw Rutherford County's Mount Pleasant C.M.E Church glowing around midnight July 9.It was a fire, ignited officials belive, when a lightning bolt struck the electrical box and ignited wires running underneath the building. Union Mills Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dean Conner said the blaze had smoldered underneath the building before flames spit through the sanctuary floor.When firefighters arrived the blaze was contained within ten minutes, but the fire still burning underneath the floorboards took more than two hours to put out.It was worse than what I expected to see, said Bettye Owners, who's been a member at Mt. Pleasant for more thirty years. And I just - when I look at it now - it's still unreal to me.The front of the sanctuary is singed. Pieces of the roof and walls have fallen onto pews, a charred piano still sits next to the alter, and a bookcase - containing old hymnals - is torched and laying on the floor. The church off of Hudlow Road has approximately fifty members, a couple dozen come to Sunday service regularly. The wiring in the building is totaled, Conner said he believes the extent of the damage to the wiring will be the determinant in whether the congregation is able to salvage the building. Conner has worked as a volunteer fireman in Union Mills since the department there was established 43 years ago. He said the _______________ Follow WLOS on social media: WLOS ABC 13 News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/News13/ WLOS ABC 13 News on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WLOS_13 WLOS ABC 13 News on Instagram: https://instagram.com/wlos_13 Subscribe to WLOS on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ABC13Channel/?sub_confirmation=1 Listen to AnchorMOMS, the Podcast: https://wlos.com/news/anchormoms/anchormoms-the-podcast Watch more top local news stories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8Ge6UXHJs&list=PLkVbaoT-aYbIvnEpR0Ct5QQQqYaORUSUH For all of the day’s top local and national news, visit http://www.wlos.com Watch our live newscasts and other live video at https://wlos.com/watch Have a news tip? Send it directly to us: Email us: [email protected] Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340 WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.
