A lightning strike Tuesday night sparked a raging fire that left a 170-year-old Leacock Township barn a  smoldering ruin.

Jacob Zook, who owns the farm at 4021B Old Philadelphia Pike, said he heard "one loud crack" during a thunderstorm that roared across the county.

"Ten minutes later, (the barn) was burning out of control," Zook said.

There was no livestock killed in the blaze.

Steve Diener, chief of the Intercourse Fire Company, who confirmed a lightning bolt started the blaze, was the first man on the scene.

"I was actually at the end of the driveway when we were dispatched on some other calls, and I just looked to the north and saw the barn was burning," Diener said. "About that time, we got dispatched for it."

He said the flames "were already coming through the roof" and the barn was "burning on all four sides" when he arrived.

Led by Intercourse Fire Company, about 150 firefighters manning trucks and tankers from White Horse, Witmer, Gordonville, Paradise, Gap, Goodville, Bird-In-Hand, Christiana, Blue Ball, New Holland and Bart fought the stubborn blaze.

Situated in the middle of wide-open farmland, flames from the barn, witnesses reported, were visible  to residents in Strasburg and the New Holland area.

The fire was brought under control within 30 minutes, but two hours after it began, a truck from Gap was still pouring water on bright orange flames that stubbornly licked at the barn's charred remains.

The primary concern for firefighters was the lack of a public water system. Water to fight the blaze was brought in by tanker trucks running shuttles from the Pequea Creek near Pequea Valley High School, and a cistern on an Amish farm along nearby Cattail Road. The water was then siphoned from the tankers or dumped into a portable reservoir set up on Old Philadelphia Pike.

The water was then carried along the nearly half-mile lane to the Zook farm by 3,000 feet of 4- and 6-inch hose, helped along by a Gap Fire Company pumper.

Compounding the water problem were trees brought down by the same storm that ignited the barn.

"There was a lot of wind through this area," Diener said. "Trees were down and some of the access roads were closed. We were really behind the 8-ball."

Parts of the large barn dated back to at least 1850, Zook said.

Fire razed the barn, but Zook said there was little of material value in the structure. Mainly, he said, the barn contained hay and a few pieces of equipment.

"I had a sale two years ago and sold all my farm equipment," he said.

E-mail: lalexander@lnpnews.com