SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. --
A Spalding County congregation spent Wednesday cleaning up after a lightning strike set their church on fire. Lightning hit the McDonough Road Baptist Church as intense storms passed through Griffin on Monday night.
No one is sure the lightning strike hit the steeple, but investigators said the fire did start a fire in the attic area under the steeple. One neighbor told Channel 2's Richard Elliot that she heard a deafening boom that rattled her house. Moments later she said she saw fire trucks outside the church on Highway 155.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the front entryway and kept it out of the main sanctuary. Still, the church suffered heavy smoke and water damage.
Crews hauled away the scorched steeple along with other debris and piled it all into a large dumpster on Wednesday. A generator was running to help pump out all the excess water.
A neighboring church is offering its sanctuary to the McDonough Road congregation as a place to worship this Sunday.
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