AUGUSTA, Ga. (WJBF) — For many families, purchasing a quality Christmas tree from Gay's Christmas Tree Farm has become a winter tradition.
But owner Matthew Gay never expected what happened at 10pm on Saturday night.
“A very observant neighbor heard a very sharp boom of thunder, looked outside and saw smoke and then small flames coming from a tree or the house, but it was hard to tell,” Gay said.
However, the smoke and fire were determined to have come from Gay's own home.
He was three hours away on his family's annual trip to Edisto Beach when a neighbor called to tell him the home he'd lived in for 40 years had sustained extensive damage.
“I'm a little overwhelmed. There's been so much work and stuff. This is a home we've lived in for 40 years and this is material stuff. Like I said, we were able to save important documents, nobody was hurt and every day the house is being built,” Gay said.
The lightning strike scattered debris in several places inside the building and scattered bricks in the garden outside.
“It's unfortunate, but these things happen and I also think God sent us to Edisto Beach to save us,” Gay said.
It will be four months before the tree farm can welcome customers again, and Mr Gay says Christmas will go ahead as planned despite the setback.
“We have some beautiful trees this year, we have a lot of trees coming in, and customers are walking by our house and they say, 'Oh it looks like there was a fire,' and then they come back to the Christmas tree farm and everything's normal,” Gay said. “We're going to get everything back on track and get it back to normal. We're going to have quality trees, and from a customer's standpoint, everything will be normal.”
Gay told News Channel 6 he's already received a lot of support from his church, friends and family to help him get back on his feet.
“We've been so lucky and blessed,” he said. “Fleming Baptist Church has been so supportive and family friends have helped us pack up what we could salvage from our home. It's just an incredible amount of support.”
The total cost of damage has not been estimated, but Gay said his insurance company plans to inspect the home within the next few days.
Gay's Christmas Tree Farm will open for business this Saturday, November 23rd.
