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Historic lighthouse struck by lightning 

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The Coal Shoal Lighthouse tower engulfed in flames after being struck by lightning Monday evening. The tower, commonly referred to as ‘Five Mile Point’ was built in 1856. (Photos taken by Kevin Beattie)
The Coal Shoal Lighthouse tower engulfed in flames after being struck by lightning Monday evening. The tower, commonly referred to as ‘Five Mile Point’ was built in 1856. (Photos taken by Kevin Beattie)

Even after being struck by lightning and burned to the ground, the Cole Shoal Lighthouse might rise from the ashes.
The 162-year-old lighthouse tower was hit by lightning during a thunderstorm Monday around 6:45 p.m., bursting into flames while onlookers and the fire department watched.
Although the tower — which is often called Five Mile Point because of its distance from Brockville — was destroyed, the remains were still warm when talk of a GoFundMe campaign to resurrect the tower was started.
Brian Burns, who lives near the lighthouse, said he watched the tail end of the fire and that it was “fully engulfed in flames and there was only one big lightning whack and it had to be the one to hit the lighthouse.”
“We saw it fully engulfed and it wasn’t five minutes later it just crumbled. It went straight down with all four supports letting go at the same time,” said Burns.
Elizabethtown-Kitley Fire Department Chief Jim Donovan said that even with calling the Coast Guard, there was no chance of saving the lighthouse.
“It was totally burning when we got there,” he said. “Nothing anybody could do, a total loss.”
Mary Alice Snetsinger, who wrote in ThousandIslandsLife.com about the Cole Shoal Lighthouse, said the tower was one of a kind, adding “it is really sad what happened to it.”
The lighthouse was built in 1856, one of the nine erected between Prescott and Kingston on the Canadian side. Until Monday, the tower was the last of the nine left standing.
Over its 71 years in operation, the lighthouse had four permanent keepers, guiding ships and merchant vessels through the seaway at night.
Although its use was discontinued in 1927, local mariners requested it remain standing to act as a day-marker and distance marker.
“After 1927, it just sat for a long time and there were various attempts to invest in it, people wanted to use it as a fishing hut,” said Snetsinger, who is a conservation biologist in Kingston.
“But the government hung onto to it for quite a while because there was a lot of affection or attachment to it in the Brockville area.”
Various politicians got involved throughout the years, including George Fulford II, saying the lighthouse tower must be saved from destruction.
At one point, the tower was to be torn down to put up a billboard on the seaway according to Snetsinger.
Fortunately for the people fighting to keep the tower, it was purchased in 1972 by the Ontario Heritage Foundation (now known as Ontario Heritage Trust).
In 2001, $15,000 was spent on the tower for maintenance that was to sustain the building for 30 to 40 years.
Burns said that a person was supposed to visit the tower this week to see what maintenance was needed. Despite the fire, the visit will still happen, with the purpose of accessing the next steps.
Before the lighthouse was taken out of service, a secondary range light tower was added 1,200 yards away. Today, that tower still stands and with a plaque to commemorate the two towers.
“It’s obviously touched something in people because you look back over the history and it’s been protected over and over again,” Snetsinger said.
“When it’s been allowed to get a bit run down and then someone says ‘Let’s rip that eyesore down’ and people say ‘No, let’s get out there and paint it, or whatever it needs.’ ”

The Kingston Whig-Standard 2018 ©

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