FRIDAY, July 14: A fire destroyed the roof of the Jefferson County Adult Learning Center building in Ranson as a severe storm moved through the county this afternoon, bringing heavy rain that flooded streets and winds that fell trees, tree branches and power lines.
Jill Bonvillian, a resident of Second Avenue in Ranson, heard a boom around 4:30 p.m. and saw lightning strike the roof of the learning center.
“I heard the loud bang and saw my trees were in the alley,” Bonvillian said, “and as I was standing at the back door, the building was struck by lightning.”
“It sounded like three bangs and sparks everywhere,” he said. “The whole house was shaking.”
The Jefferson County Day Report Center operates out of an adjoining section of the brick building at 401 S. Fairfax Boulevard that was once used as a sewing factory years ago.
Bonvillian said the lightning struck the building during a torrential rain that brought strong winds. After the storm passed, he went outside to check for damage to the trees blocking an alley next to his house.
That’s when he saw smoke coming from the top of the learning center. He immediately called 911.
“They had the teams here,” he said. “Almost immediately I heard the sirens.”
The learning center is located almost across the street from the Independent Fire Company in Ranson.
Bonvillian said he spoke with a woman who said she worked in the building that caught fire and reported that no one was there when it caught fire.
A block away on Third Avenue, Brian Riston and Patrick Coulter, city of Ranson construction officials, were waiting for the storm to blow through Ranson City Hall.
Riston was in his work vehicle in front of city hall, and Coulter was inside city hall.
“With the heavy rain and the wind, everything was shaking,” Riston said. “It was raining so much here that I couldn’t see five meters in front of me.
“When I pulled up in the car, a blue flame just shot down the street here. … I didn’t know where it was coming from.”
Riston said the blue blaze spread about half a block up Third Avenue, past city hall and North Mildred Street.
After the rain and wind died down, Riston and Coulter decided to walk around to check for possible damage. Coulter was the first to smell smoke, and they turned the corner in front of city hall and saw smoke coming from the roof of the learning center across the street.
Riston said they called the emergency communications center at 4:41 p.m
“We called it right away and then we went to work to block the streets so we could get it ready for the fire department to come in.”
Firefighters from Jefferson and Berkeley counties responded to the building fire.
Next to the burning building, across an alley, is the home of Bryan Hughes. Hughes was upstairs in his house when the storm passed and heard a loud bang. “I looked out the window and saw sparks,” he said.
Hughes thought a tree next to his home snapped during the storm and downed power lines along Third Avenue. After running outside, he noticed that a utility pole had snapped, bending and tangling the attached power and utility lines.
“I saw sparks,” he said. “It was like firecrackers, man. Just a loud, crackling pop and a light.”
No injuries were immediately reported. A firefighter was called to the scene as firefighters were still battling flames burning through the roof structure of the learning center four hours after the blaze was reported.
