Lightning struck a cabin about noon Monday, May 11, at Camp Bethany, starting a fire that raced through the building in a matter of minutes.
SHREVEPORT – Lightning struck a cabin about noon Monday, May 11, at Camp Bethany, starting a fire that raced through the building in a matter of minutes.
The cabin was empty of guests, and no one was injured in the lightning strike or fire, said Camp Manager Robert Cole.
As noon neared, Melinda Mendenhall, bookkeeper, was the only one in the office, everyone else was at lunch.
The impact of the lightning strike reverberated through the office, she said. She could tell it hit something; she just didn’t know what.
“I looked out to see if I noticed anything unusual, but I didn’t,” Mendenhall said.
A few minutes after the boom sounded, some of the cleaning staff came to tell Mendenhall they could smell smoke. Originally they thought the office might be on fire, because the smell seemed so close, Mendenhall said.
When they investigated, they saw the fire raging in a cabin behind the office. She said they immediately called 911, but by the time the fire department arrived, flames were rolling out the sides of the building.
The fire demolished half the cabin and smoke damage destroyed the rest, Cole said.
Though the camp’s insurance will cover some of the costs to repair the damage, the rest is being provided through volunteers and donations.
“We have had great volunteers working tirelessly to complete the construction in time for our Youth Camp,” Cole said. “We thank them. They are amazing.”
Trinity Heights Baptist Church in Shreveport has been one of the key churches in the cabin’s reconstruction. Associate Pastor Randy Riley said volunteers from the church have been going out almost every day, starting only days after the fire.
They have been hard at work. Gutting paneling, re-roofing the cabin and installing new windows are only a few of the many services the church has provided.
“They’ve done some of everything,” Mendenhall said.
The core group of Trinity Heights’ volunteers is made of the Rangers, a “group of committed mission guys who love construction,” Riley said.
“There was a need,” he said. “We helped fill that need.”
Trinity Heights also donated money – more than $1,000 raised through their Vacation Bible School – to Camp Bethany to help replace the damaged furniture.
Cole hopes to have the cabin rebuilt by mid-July.