Jefferson church steeple catches fire, multiple crews respond

JEFFERSON, Wis. - A fire burned a Jefferson church steeple to a crisp on Monday night, June 24.

The city's fire chief said he believes the cause was a lightning strike.

The saying is when you're feeling down, just look up. That's what Mary Wollet feels when she looks at the cross at the top of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church.

"It’s a great church, great community," Wollet said.

She and her family have a long history with this staple of faith in Jefferson.

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

"My husband and I have gone here for 32 years," she said. "Our kids were raised in this church."

So it was nothing short of shocking for her to see this on Monday night. 

Around 9 p.m., neighbors say they heard a boom from lightning striking the church. The next thing they knew, the steeple was up in flames.

"It was a fire at the top," church pastor Monsignor Donn Heiar said. "It was tough, everybody kind of sat there in disbelief. Kids were sitting out; this is their school."

About 24 fire crews responded to put the flames out.

"You can’t imagine this happens, but it does," Heiar said.

Heiar said it took hours to put the flames out. Additionally, the inside suffered slight water damage.

"It was a mess," Heiar said.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Tuesday, crews put up a fence around the church while they went inside to survey the damage and try to figure out what was salvageable.

The next goal is to get the unstable steeple down. But it's what still stands above it that's making people take note.

"Lot of things could have fallen off that and a lot of things did, but the cross is still there," Heiar said. "It’s kind of a staple of who we are."

Seeing the cross withstand the blast from the water and the flames gives folks the encouragement to still look up.

"It’s inspiring," Wollet said. "Things are going to be okay."