06/16/2009

Associated Press

Fire officials believe a lightning strike was to blame for a large fire that totaled a four-story condominium building on the Lake of the Ozarks.

Fire Chief John Suellentrop with the Sunrise Beach Fire Protection District said firefighters were called to the condos at Summer Place on the Lake just before 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.

He said no one was in the eight condo units in Camdenton destroyed by the fire. He said they're largely used as vacation homes.

Eight fire departments responded to the fire, which Suellentrop said was under control by midmorning and extinguished around 3 p.m.

Suellentrop said no one was injured, though that section of condos is considered a total loss.