Thunderstorms over the weekend brought in heavy lightning that could be the cause of two area fires, one of which destroyed a historic Marion County church.

The fire at Zion Hill Baptist Church was first reported around 1 a.m. Sunday by a passerby who could see the blaze from Green Street Road.

The fire apparently started in the steeple of the Zion Hill Road church and spread to the sanctuary when the bells fell into the building.

Five area fire departments were on scene fighting the blaze and were able to keep the fire from spreading to the connected fellowship hall, which suffered smoke and water damage.

The Centralia Fire Protection District called the Odin, Kell, Sandoval and Salem Firemen to bring additional water and manpower to the scene.

Located just northeast of Centralia, the church was first built in 1863 and was one of the oldest standing churches in Marion County.

The State Fire Marshal’s office was on scene early Sunday morning and has not yet determined

Lightning is also being looked at as having caused a fire to a home south of Cartter Saturday night.

Salem firefighters received the report of the fire around 8:15 Saturday night for a blaze in the 1500 block of Adams Road.

It’s believed that lightning caused a fire in the fuse box of the home. The resident of the home was reportedly able to knock down the fire with an extinguisher before firefighters arrived.

The home suffered only minor damage, with a small amount of smoke inside and vinyl siding and metal soffit outside being blackened.