Nick McWilliams reporting – A Tuesday morning fire caused extensive damage on the second floor of the Westchester General Store.
Around 12:40 a.m., fire crews from Freeport were toned out to the store and attached home after the owners, Bill and Carol Johnson, believed lightning had struck the dwelling.
Assistant Fire Chief Jason Anderson says that the homeowners initially called a neighbor who is on the Freeport Fire Department, who alerted crews to the fire.
“They heard lightning strike, and it actually a window A.C. unit on the residence. And they noticed smoke. When that member got on scene, there were fire and flames already showing on the outside of the residence.”
Due to the intensity of the flames, other departments from Washington, Moorefield, and Rush Townships, Bowerston, Cadiz, Antrim, and Arrowhead Joint Fire District were called in.
Anderson says that all occupants were outside and accounted for, and for safety reasons, firefighters were called back outside.
“We initially tried an interior attack. That didn’t go as planned because the roof of the structure started to collapse. So we pulled out, and started an exterior, defensive attack.”
Crews remained on scene for almost 10 hours before finally clearing the call, with the structure being deemed a total loss.
A damage estimate was not available for the contents of the former store, which had been closed recently, but still had many pieces of memorabilia and knickknacks inside.
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