Lightning strike caused DeSisto School fire

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. (WWLP) - Fire crews from all over the Berkshires worked to put out a fire caused by a lightning strike at the old DeSisto School in Stockbridge.

Stockbridge Fire Chief Chuck Cardillo told 22News about fifty thousand dollars in damage was done to the mansion building on the campus.

Fire departments from Great Barrington, Lenox, Lee and at least four other towns were called in to help battle heavy flames in the roof of that building.

The DeSisto School was founded in 1978 by Michael DeSisto as a private therapeutic boarding school for troubled students.

The school voluntarily closed in 2004 after a long legal fight with state authorities over allegations of child abuse, licensing and safety issues.

The case received widespread national media coverage.

The second DeSisto School campus in Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida closed in 1988 after legal clashes with local authorities.

The Stockbridge campus was featured in a 2000 documentary "Uphill All The Way," narrated by Susan Sarandon. It profiled five troubled teenage girls who lived at the DeSisto School.

The Stockbridge property had recently been purchased and was undergoing renovations. Nobody was injured in the fire.