PILOT ROCK – A lightning strike Tuesday evening destroyed most of an 800-ton haystack, on the Bar 41 Ranch.

Neighbors saw the strike and called the Pilot Rock Fire Department.

About 20-30 tons of hay were bulldozed away, which created a mess when the bales broke open, ranch owner Larry Hoeft said. The ranch, about 13 miles south of Pendleton off Highway 395, runs 600 head of cattle.

Pilot Rock Fire Chief Ron Neeley said firefighters stayed at the scene until 11 p.m. to make sure the fire was contained. The haystack was in a rocked stack yard and continued to burn today. Hoeft said he was keeping a close watch today to make sure the fire did not spread.

“We just about had all the hay we were going to need,” he said.

Replacing the quantity and quality of the hay will be difficult.

“It’s some of the best quality hay we ever had,” Hoeft said.

Neeley said luck was on the side of firefighters Tuesday evening.

“Other fires started but the rain put them out so we were very fortunate because we had a lot of lighting strikes around the district,” Neeley said.