A storage building at the Petal Pushers nursery on Parade Road was destroyed Thursday evening after being struck by lightning and set on fire.

No one was injured and firefighters from Laconia and six area departments managed to quickly contain the fire, which was reported around 7:30, and to prevent it from spreading to two other storage buildings.

Laconia Fire Capt. Bob Landry said lightning hit a storage building on the north end of the five-acre nursery owned and operated by Pat Gianunzio, starting a fire that destroyed the structure and its contents which included various equipment used at the nursery as well as bales of hay.

"It was fully involved when we got there and we were able to contain it to that building which was a total loss," said Landry, who estimated the damage at $50,000.

Gianunzio, however, managed to retrieve unscathed a new pickup truck from the building, Landry said, and later, riding a tractor, also assisted firefighters in overhauling the scene.

"It was a quick knock-down. Our major concern was that it's not in the hydrant district and everybody was out [area departments responded to numerous weather-related calls Thursday evening] so there was a big deal in getting people there," said Landry. "We were fortunate to get trucks with water there, too."