August 9, 1962 — During last Saturday night’s electric and rain storm, lightning struck the barn of Lewis Judd in the Sandy Hook neighborhood north of Luray.
The building was completely destroyed by the resulting fire. Two brood sows that were quartered in the barn were killed by the bolt. The barn had been filled with hay on Saturday morning and this was also lost.
The lightning bolt also put the telephone out of commission at the Judd home and it was necessary for someone to go to a neighbor’s to call the Luray Fire Department, which responded to the alarm with two trucks.
The fire in the barn had gained such an enormous headway that the structure could not be saved. The firemen pumped water from a pond about 1,200 feet away and prevented the destruction of the nearby outbuilding.
~ From the public archives of the Page News and Courier
•••
TODAY IN HISTORY is a feature of PageValleyNews.com
~ Check the date of the story you just read!
Be the first to comment