A lightning strike is the likely cause of an early morning fire which destroyed a hay barn in Croton near Dresden.

Emma Butler of J&E Meats said in a social media post this morning they received a call around 4 am that their hay and straw barn was on fire.

“We were all holding our breath that the burning debris wouldn’t get carried to the nearby barn where our cattle and sheep are,” she said.

Crews from the Dresden and Thamesville fire departments arrived and were able to contain the damage to the hay and straw barn.

Butler calls it a “devastating loss for our farm” since the barn contained the “entire crop of hay and all of our straw for our animals.

“There was no salvaging of any of the hundreds of bales of hay or straw and the equipment inside the shed.

“The only silver lining to this is that it is almost wheat season so we should soon hopefully get some more hay crop,” Butler added.

The family has been encouraged by the concern of neighbours and offers of help. “We are so grateful to the Dresden and Thamesville fire departments for controlling the burn and doing all they could to manage it.”