Lightning strike makes for explosive wake-up call

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This article was published 17/06/2016 (3479 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A tree exploding from a lightning strike was the alarm clock for Canadian Forces members on Friday.

Adam Mack, of 1920 Corydon Ave., in the military housing area, said he was jarred awake by a loud sound around 6:15 a.m.

“It blew the pictures right off the wall,” Mack said.

“Then I looked outside. The tree out front had just exploded.”

What used to be a 15-metre-high spruce tree was now just kindling on the front lawn, the side and front street — and even as far as 200 metres away. The roof was also covered in branches.

“When the lightning hit, it just exploded,” Mack said.

“But it could have been worse. We could have been calling an ambulance instead of the cleanup crew.”

A tree branch impaled itself in the siding just below a bedroom window.

Mack said the branch didn’t come through but the force of the explosion was so great it pushed drywall screws out of the wall facing the tree.

Josh Behnish, who lives next door in the duplex, was closing the window when the lightning hit.

“I was turning the crank when all of a sudden I felt a large vibration,” Behnish said.

“Then I was hit by a shower of glass as the window blew in. The tree just exploded.

“I got up and dusted myself off and checked for any major injuries. I got two nicks on my hands but that’s it.”

Behnish said, as a member of the Canadian Forces, he’s used to hearing the loud sounds of guns, but this one shocked him.

“It’s different because you’re not expecting it,” he said.

“I was just waking up, but after this I was pretty awake.”

The damage to two windows, the eavestrough and the siding will be covered by the federal government.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca