3-alarm fire at Salisbury church caused by lightning strike, firefighters say

SALISBURY, N.C. — Firefighters with the Salisbury Fire Department responded to a three-alarm fire caused by a lightning strike on Sunday afternoon.

Officials responded to the Power Cross Ministries on N. Ellis Street just before 5:00 p.m. in Salisbury.

At the scene, first responders were met with flames and plumes of smoke coming out of the top of the building.

Firefighters say that no one was hurt.

Channel 9′s Glenn Counts spoke to a witness who watched the entire incident from start to finish. Graham Corriher and his wife were enjoying their Sunday afternoon sitting on the front porch of their Salisbury home when they say they heard a loud explosion and saw flames coming from the church’s roof.

“I heard a loud explosion, felt a loud explosion, looked over, and sparks were shooting off the building; it got hit by lightning,” Corriher told Counts.

Corriher called 9-1-1, and the Salisbury Fire Department was on the scene within two minutes.

“All in all, we went to a 3-alarm fire, had about 60 firefighters on the scene, about 7 ladder trucks, and elevated master streams put on the roof to put out the fire,” Salisbury Fire Chief Robert Parnell told Channel 9.

The church was the administrative building for Power Cross, a local youth and sports ministry focused on helping children between the ages of seven and 12. At the time, the ministry was helping more than 70 kids in the community.

Damion Parson, a Power Cross administrator, heard about the fire on the phone while he was at home. He told Channel 9 that the only word that crossed his mind was ‘Wow’. But the good news does come out of this: the program will not be impacted by the fire.

“It’s a test, you know; I’ve never been through nothing like this, so it’s a big test. Like I said, I’m not going nowhere,” Parson said. “I’m making plans to be here tomorrow to pick up the kids and continue what I’m doing by being here for this community.”

Another church has already volunteered its administrative building to help out, at this time firefighters do not know if the building is salvageable.

This is a developing story; check back at wsoctv.com for updates.

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