Lightning blamed for apartment fire

When the fire department arrived at about 12:30, Whitfield said the top floor of the two-story complex was totally engulfed in flames.

Firemen used the city's ladder truck to apply water from above and entered the building with hose as well.

"It's a dangerous house to go in to use all hand lines," Whitfield said, referring to the fact that the structure has been carved into eight apartments.

Firemen closed South Elm Street until about 6 a.m. Thursday. They left the scene at around 7 a.m., Whitfield said, confident they'd put out the fire. But they were paged back at about 9 a.m. when it apparently rekindled.

Whitfield said the fire was largely contained to the upstairs. The bottom part, he said, suffered from water damage, but owner Bob Sisk had indicated a desire to repair the structure.

Whitfield estimated that the department had used about 60,000 gallons of water as of 11 a.m. Thursday, but were still applying water to the structure at the time.

Six of the apartments were occupied. No one was injured in the fire.

Units from Nicholson, Maysville and the Jackson County Correctional Institute all responded to the original call.