The power of lightning....

A

Al Nyhus

"It'll never work!"
Last Saturday night, we had some severe storms roll through our area with lots of lightning. My youngest daughters house was hit by lightning and they had a pretty good sized fire in the attic. The lightning evidently hit the peak of the house, made a 90 degree turn and exited out the gable end.

In these pics, you can see how the fire retardant insulation did it's job...above the insulation the rafters are charred cinders but below the insulation the wood is not even discolored. The Fire Inspector said the temps in the attic were in excess of 1,100 degrees.

My daughter, her husband, my three Grandkiddos and the family dog all got out safely and are staying with me. Needless to say...lots of reconstruction to do before they get back in.



 
Francis, we're not sure on the extent of the electrical damage yet as the inspectors are still going over everything. Oddly, it only kicked off three breakers in the service box. Two reset but one didn't...the one in their bedroom that was just below where the strike was. The electrical service panel is on the other side of the house. So, the house still has power to run the A/C, fridge, freezer, etc.

The Fire Dept. crew was amazing. It was pouring rain that night (we got over 5") and they stayed to tarp the roof and seal things up as best they could. Then, they came back the next morning around 9:00, rechecked, retarped and resealed again. There is a fire fighter that lives a block from them and he was there before the fire trucks came just to make sure everyone was out and safe. My daughter and her family only live a mile from me and were here while the Fire Dept. worked. The Fire Dept called them several times just to let them know what was going on. True professionals.

I can only imagine how many times in your career you were the one working on the fire while the homeowners were evacuated. Thanks for all your service. :) -Al
 
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Maybe Ben Franklin was right. Lightning rods anyone?

Glad that nobody was injured, and that the house wasn't destroyed.
 
Lightening chasers

A number of years ago I was travelling through outback Oz with my cameras and visited some meteorologist geeks chasing lightening at the Giles weather station. They were sending up rockets into storm clouds trailing fine wires behind them and getting lightening to strike their test site. They were investigating the association between the color temperature of lightening and the amperage it pulled. Some of the voltages and amperages recorded were incredible.
Andy.
 
I'm glad your family was safe. Common sense design, engineering and construction without cutting corners is almost always the best way to go.
Prayers sent.
Mark
 
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