By: Kalen Ponche

As Published In:

     St. Charles Journal

     St. Peters Journal

June 8, 2008

 

About 11:45 a.m. Wednesday, lightning ignited the roof of the Farmer's Insurance building at 1055 First Capitol Drive in St. Charles.

 

Paul Hauser, the owner of the building and an insurance agent, was seated in a barber chair a block away from the building at the time.

 

People in the barbershop saw the lightning strike - it was close.

 

Hauser said he joked to his barber, "Man, I hope it didn't hit my building."

 

Hauser has owned the building since 1994. He's an agent for Farmer's Insurance and leases space to two other insurance agents. Seven people work in the building. A woman, her child and her mother-in-law lived in an apartment on the second floor.

 

A few moments later Hauser's wife called. He hit ignore. When she called again, he picked up.

 

"The first thing out of her mouth was, 'The building's on fire!'" he said.

 

Lightning had struck the back porch of the two-story brick building.

 

Hauser's employees felt the strike - it nearly knocked them out of their chairs, Hauser said.

 

But because the lights and computers still worked, they kept working until smoke started billowing from the top of the building.

 

Hauser said when his tenant saw the smoke, she grabbed her child and ran downstairs. Everyone made it out of the building safely.

 

Hauser said he was in shock as he stood watching the firefighters work to put out the fire.

 

"Get it out," he said. "That was the only thing that went through my mind. I know all that stuff can be repaired, (but) I did want them to get it out."

 

The American Red Cross responded to the fire, offering Hauser's tenants food, clothing and shelter.

 

"We were able - after meeting with the family - to do a disaster assessment," said Brad Farber, St. Charles County Service Center supervisor. "They needed everything from clothes to a place to stay to food. Basically it's our experience, these families, they're in shock. We're there with that kind of response. A big part of what we do is be there when they reel up the fire hoses.

 

Late Wednesday afternoon, the front of the building looked almost normal. A window facing the street on the top floor had been boarded up and a bright orange sign declared the building uninhabitable. Small bits of ash floated onto a neighbor's front porch.

 

In the back, pink insulation was scattered on the ground amongst pieces of the family's life - a charred wooden table, a baby's highchair, a Christmas stocking.

 

Hauser said his tenants were able to salvage some of their belongings. He estimated the damage to the building at more than $100,000. He'll set up temporary office space elsewhere while the building is repaired.

 

"It's just shocking lightning hit that thing," he said. "I deal with lightning strikes all the time. For lightning to ht and catch fire...I'm in shock."