BARDSTOWN, Ky. (WDRB) -- The barn at a popular Nelson County bed and breakfast was destroyed in a fire early Tuesday morning.
The Bourbon Manor Bed and Breakfast’s 100-year-old barn caught fire around 2 a.m. It is believed the fire was the result of a lightning strike.
“It was a pretty big sized barn,” said Jenny Vincent, who lives just a couple hundred feet from the manor property. She and her husband woke up and smelled smoke. “We went outside and that’s when we seen all the red smoke and everything. The flames were huge," she said.
Bardstown Fire crews told WDRB News the flames were 100 feet tall.
“We could see it from several miles off. We actually could see it from the station. It was quite large and the amount of smoke it was putting off was quite visible,” said Bardstown Fire Lt. Corey Lanham. “It was quite a large fire to being close to the center of town.”
Once a classic bourbon lounge with staircases, leather seats, and a balcony, the barn is now a smoking pile of rubble. Glass bottles could be seen in the debris. The metal roof collapsed, which helped crews with containment.
Three cars on the property also caught fire and were destroyed.
The 200-year-old manor and 10 guest rooms were not damaged — but nearby trees were, with leaves singed all the way to the top.
Fire crews had to douse nearby homes with water to prevent any from catching fire due to embers and the size of the flames.
It took about 30 minutes to contain the blaze and crews remained on scene for nearly four hours.
The Bardstown Fire Department is still looking into the exact cause of the fire.
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