RIVERRATMIKE
Taurus
River House Owner/0 Miles From Havasu!
  
Lake Havasu City/Parker, AZ
Posts: 2,764
APPD 0.35
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1986 28ft Chris Craft Stinger
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Posted: Sep. 03 2003,1:20 pm |
Post # 1 |
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Firefighters said this family is lucky to be alive.
Lightning struck a Lake Havasu City home early Tuesday morning, starting several fires that eventually destroyed the structure at 3305 Star Lane. The four residents who were inside escaped the fire and lightning uninjured.
Fire inspector Tom Hutter called it “a miracle.â€
Hutter said it was “amazing†that the current produced by the lightning did not reach the four residents — Joslin and Curt Bertrand and their two children. Additionally, he said it was remarkable that the family was able to escape the blaze that started in their attic.
The lightning strike was heard throughout the city; firefighters across town heard the “boom†when it struck at about 1:09 a.m.
“It was really loud,†said Joslin Bertrand.
Bertrand said her family was sleeping when they were roused from bed by the loud bang. Within 10 seconds she said they could smell smoke from the fire.
The family struggled through the front door as they attempted to flee the fire — Hutter said the force of the lightning’s current blew the drywall off the walls and roof, including the area in front of the door.
The house had a peaked roof and that is where the strike occurred, Hutter said. The wall on the outside of the house, normally brown, was turned dark pink by the lightning.
Looking for a place to ground, the current traveled throughout metal pipes and wiring in the attic and the walls.
Hutter said as the current — which was traveling at the speed of light — surged throughout the house, it created small fires inside the attic space.
“It’s as if you had an arsonist in the attic starting little fires,†he said.
On the opposite of the house, where the lightning struck, the current of electricity blew a screwed-down telephone box cover 30 feet away. Electrical fixtures throughout the house were blown apart.
The lightning’s current traveled from the house to the neighborhood’s telephone pole about 60 yards away, knocking out telephone service in the area.
Because of the phone situation, in addition to the nature of the fires, the house was already in flames when firefighters arrived on the scene.
The Bertrands’ home wasn’t the only structure in town affected by Tuesday night’s storm.
The fire department reported a house on Everglades Drive was also struck by lightning, but the building was not damaged. Additionally, the Sherlock Homes Apartment building on Swanson Avenue was damaged by an apparent lightning strike.
Paul Allemeier, spokesman for Havasu Regional Medical Center, said an apparent lightning strike knocked out phone service to about 450 of the hospital’s 900 phones.
“This had to be a tremendous surge of electricity,†Allemeier said.
The hospital’s main phone number still works, he said. Conversely, he said most of the administrative, billing services admitting numbers, and some of the direct patient room numbers, are expected to be out until today.
Meanwhile, Allemeier said hospital employees who lack phone service are calling their voicemail every 10 minutes for messages. The hospital is expecting an order of new circuits to come in, and when those are installed, he said they will be able to assess any damage that may have occurred to the computers that handle phone calls.
UniSource Energy Services responded to small outages around the city that were caused by wind and lighting, said Bill DeJulio, transmission and distribution manager. Unrelated to the weather, UniSource also responded to a large power outage at the London Bridge substation. DeJulio said the outage was caused by a faulty cable. Several businesses up McCulloch Boulevard, including the hospital, were without power from about 8:30 to 11 p.m. Monday. Allemeier said generators at the hospital made up for the power failure.
No damage was reported to boats at Lake Havasu Marina or Havasu Landing Marina in California. Also, no damage was reported to any aircraft at Lake Havasu City Municipal Airport.
You may contact the reporter at mhall@havasunews.com.
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