North Stonington — One man was injured by an apparent lightning strike at the town's fairgrounds on what was supposed to be the opening day of the fair.

Opening day festivities have been postponed to Friday due to safety concerns with the weather, said fair Vice President Jody Whipple.

The 30-year-old man, who was working at the fair, was in the cattle barn on the fairgrounds during intense thundershowers around 2:20 p.m., and was reportedly leaning on a metal panel used to show cattle when lightning struck in the area. He passed out and fell to the ground, fairgoers said.

He was transported to the hospital, and was awake and talking in the ambulance, fair officials said.

Fire Marshal George Brennan initially closed the barn to fair organizers. "We have the electrician going through and doing due diligence," Brennan said.

The town building official also was on his way to inspect the cattle barn.

The cattle barn is an open-air building with a metal roof. Display panels inside typically separate livestock from different farms, and contain water and fans to cool the cattle. The fan "could have shorted out," Brennan added.

If it was a lightning strike, it was probably indirect and localized to the one metal panel because "lightning seeks the easiest point," Brennan said.

In all the years of the fair, he added, "nothing like this has happened before."

As of 4:15 p.m. people were back inside the barn and walking around their livestock. Fair President Mike Riley said Brennan had deemed the electrical system safe to go back inside.

Whipple said fair officials would be doing everything they could to ensure the grounds are safe for the next three days. Fair organizers said that inspections had been completed and the grounds and equipment were safe in a post on the fair's Facebook page at 6 p.m.

The fair princess and queen shows will proceed as scheduled Thursday night at the North Stonington Grange near the fairgrounds.

The fair will hold the opening day schedule tomorrow, starting with an opening ceremony and the singing of the National Anthem at 5 p.m.

n.lynch@theday.com