'Somebody had their hand in this': Jefferson church saved after lightning strikes steeple

JEFFERSON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- The steeple of a church hit by lighting Monday night in Jefferson will have to come down for repairs.

If downtowns are the heart of a community, then St. John the Baptist Church is the soul of Jefferson.

"One of those worst nightmares that was suddenly enfolding in front of us," said Jefferson Fire Chief Ron Wegner.

Chief Wegner says they almost lost that pillar Monday night after the fire department heard lighting strike close by.

"It looks very different this morning than it does in the middle of the night last night," said Wegner. "Pretty intimidating first response last night to see the steeple fully engulfed in fire."

Monsignor Donn Heier says he had just come back into town after vacation when he got the call.

"It was tough. Everybody kind of sat there in disbelief. Kids were sitting out.”

The steeple, which sits 200 feet in the air, was nearly impossible for firefighters to reach. Wegner says it took several hours to fight the flames since winds were strong. Firefighters attacked the flames from three different directions and from the inside.

"We were reasonably confident last night we were going to have structural failure," said Wegner.

Now, with minimal water and smoke damage inside, mass and other events have been cancelled, but this community says the church's survival is nothing short of a miracle.

"People put their heart and soul into their church," said Monsignor Heier. "A lot of things could have fallen off of it. A lot of things did. But the cross is still there."

While the area surrounding the church is fenced off for structural concerns, crews are working to take the steeple down, repair it, and hopefully, reinstall it. Wegner says the soul of Jefferson saw a blessing of its own that night.

"Yup. Somebody had their hand in this last night. Without a doubt," said Wegner.