I plan to do a whole series of stories on this subject, not to scare people, but to really emphasize the necessity of using extreme caution when lightning is around.
We have a very sad story out of Northern Utah where a 15-year-old Eagle scout was struck by lightning Tuesday night while lying in his bunk at Camp Stiner high up in the Uinta Mountains in the NE part of the state. (The only mountain range in the USA that runs east-west)
He was lying on a bunk inside what is called an Adironadack shelter, closed on three sides but with an open front. It happened near Mirror Lake at Camp Stiner, the highest Boy Scout camp in the USA at an elevation of 10,400 feet.
We have picnicked there and photographed that area, so I am very familiar. The victim and several other scouts were lying in their bunk at 10:00 p.m. and the bolt of lightning struck an adjacent tree, ran down the tree and jumped across to a small nail head on one of the beams of the cabin. Several other scouts were injured.
Several doctors, also scout leaders, were nearby but he could not be saved. Some of the other injured scouts were airlifted to a Salt Lake hospital.
Lightning rates No. 2 in weather-related deaths in the state of Utah. Number 1: mountain avalanches.
We have a very sad story out of Northern Utah where a 15-year-old Eagle scout was struck by lightning Tuesday night while lying in his bunk at Camp Stiner high up in the Uinta Mountains in the NE part of the state. (The only mountain range in the USA that runs east-west)
He was lying on a bunk inside what is called an Adironadack shelter, closed on three sides but with an open front. It happened near Mirror Lake at Camp Stiner, the highest Boy Scout camp in the USA at an elevation of 10,400 feet.
We have picnicked there and photographed that area, so I am very familiar. The victim and several other scouts were lying in their bunk at 10:00 p.m. and the bolt of lightning struck an adjacent tree, ran down the tree and jumped across to a small nail head on one of the beams of the cabin. Several other scouts were injured.
Several doctors, also scout leaders, were nearby but he could not be saved. Some of the other injured scouts were airlifted to a Salt Lake hospital.
Lightning rates No. 2 in weather-related deaths in the state of Utah. Number 1: mountain avalanches.