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Athens firefighters emptied three stations to battle a lightning-sparked blaze early Thursday that destroyed a fourth church in Limestone County this year.

Three hours later, a lightning strike caused a fire that severely damaged a home on Mahalo Circle in the East Limestone community.

By dawn Thursday, Athens Church of God at 17522 Quinn Road lay in ruins, despite the efforts of more than 30 Athens firefighters.

Only portions of the outer brick walls of the church remained. Members of the congregation, including Pastor David Root, watched from a nearby parking lot as the church burned. Though shocked by the fire, Root said the congregation would meet Sunday at a location to be determined.

Firefighters received the call at 11 minutes after midnight as a violent storm that packed spectacular lightning and 60-mile-per-hour straight-line winds rolled into North Alabama.

“The fire started in the roof of the attic and surrounding area during the most extreme point of the thunderstorms,” said Athens Fire Marshal Tony Kirk.

“We determined it was caused by lightning.”

Shortly after firefighters arrived and began fighting the fire from both inside and outside the church, they discovered a hole in the roof.

“They saw the roof had begun to collapse, so we pulled all our firefighters out and it collapsed,” Kirk said.

Firefighters from Stations 1, 2 and 3 battled the blaze until 3:30 to 4 p.m. but were unable to save the church, Kirk said. Meanwhile, firefighters from East Limestone, Tanner and Clements staffed the Athens fire stations while Athens firefighters were away.

This was the fourth church lost to storm-related causes this year. Three churches were leveled by the deadly April 27 tornado that churned through the Tanner and East Limestone communities. Also, the historic Alabama Forks Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America was damaged early Thursday morning when a tree fell through its roof during storms.

Root said he draws strength from the courage of those congregations.

“This church was built by a lot of volunteers who put their hearts and souls into it,” he said. “We are saddened by the loss; however we are inspired by the pastor and congregation of Bethel Church of Christ and their determination to rebuild.”

 

Two more fires

 

East Limestone firefighters who had been called to help Athens firefighters with the church fire were called back to their community at 2:58 a.m. to battle a house fire, Chief Joey Boyd said.

Twelve firefighters were able to save some of the two-story, brick home at 25358 Mahalo Circle, located west of Mooresville Road on Newby Road, Boyd said.

“It was already burning through the roof when we arrived,” he said.

The owner, his wife and daughter, who were home at the time, were not injured, he said.

A lightning strike sparked the blaze, Boyd said.

“When lightning strikes, it runs through all the electrical wiring and the metal and it shorts to the wood and ignites it,” Boyd said.

Firefighters remained on the scene until 5:50 a.m.

In addition, the home of Robert Smith in Madison County was gutted by fire at about 3 a.m. Thursday. The blaze was reportedly caused by a lightning strike. No one was injured in the fire at the home on Mountain Creek Drive in Knox Creek subdivision, which is less than a mile from the Limestone County line, but Smith’s dog perished in the fire.