Gas station fire closes Buechel intersection for a time

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- A fire at a gas station in Buechel had the intersection of Hikes Lane and Bardstown Road blocked for a time on Thursday.

One witness tells WDRB News that a bolt of lightning struck the Marathon station. It happened shortly after 11 a.m.

'"It was a really long, really thin stream of lightning," Mark Carwile said. "Really neat, really cool, I liked it. Not neat that it closed it down, but I ain't never been that close to lightning in my life, so that's kinda cool."

Carwile described a large cloud of smoke coming from the building and said one person was trying to extinguish the flames with a fire extinguisher. He said the fire department responded quickly.

Buechel firefighters confirm the lightning strike, saying it hit a component on the building, and blew a gas meter off. What started as a small initial fire was fed by a gas line.

The building suffered only a little external structural damage. No one was hurt.

Buechel, Okolona, Camp Taylor, and McMahan fire departments responded.