Mt. Juliet firefighter critically injured in apartment fire, lightning likely to blame

A Mt. Juliet firefighter has been critically injured while battling an apartment fire on Old Pleasant Grove Road Saturday afternoon.

No fatalities and no other injuries have been reported as a result of the blaze, which city officials believe was caused by a lightning strike to the roof, city spokesman Justin Beasley said.

Mt. Juliet Mayor James Maness urged the community to pray for the injured firefighter, who was not named and taken to Skyline Medical Center for treatment.

At 12:33 p.m. Saturday, the Mt. Juliet Police Department tweeted: "Residents at Glass Creek Apartments in 1200 building, your apartment building is on fire. Evacuate now!!"

The department clarified it was building 400 that was on fire and that building 500 had been evacuated as a precaution. Building 1200 was not affected.

Apartment resident Chris Campbell took photos from the scene and described what he saw and heard.

"(A) very big and loud lightning hit at about 12-12:10-ish p.m. Knew it was very close, stepped outside and saw the flames a few minutes after," Campbell said, noting that it appeared everyone had been evacuated. He also said the Mt. Juliet Police Department, "did an excellent job running door to door to get everyone out."

At some point, the building started to collapse with three firefighters inside, officials said.

Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Nashville said they were waiting for an official confirmation that the fire was caused by lightning, but they hadn't received word as of 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Shortly before 3 p.m., the Mt. Juliet Police Department tweeted a notice to displaced Glass Creek Apartment residents, saying a reunification and staging area for resources was available at the complex's Club House. Officials estimated that about 24 units in the 400 building have been displaced as a result of the fire, and a number of animals were rescued.

Nashville's Lead Forecaster Sam Shamburger said Mt. Juliet was under a severe thunderstorm warning at the time the apartment fire broke out. A line of intense storms began moving across Middle Tennessee at 10 a.m. Saturday and they were, "moving out now," Shamburger said around 3 p.m.

"There was an unusually large amount of lightning (with the system), and we have heard about a large amount of strikes to trees, buildings and all kinds of structures," he added. "We're probably going to hear about more fires caused by the storms today."

So far, Shamburger said five calls had come in from Wilson, Robertson and Davidson Counties reporting lightning strikes to structures.

Strong winds blew down some trees and power lines across Middle Tennessee.

"For most people, the lightning was the most intense part of the storms today along with the high winds," Shamburger said. "We haven’t heard about any roof or structural damages. We got a couple reports of funnel clouds, but no confirmation of tornadoes."

Tennessean reporter Andy Humbles contributed.

This is a developing story. Check back here for additional details as they become available.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Mayor: Mt. Juliet firefighter critically injured in apartment fire