Construction workers have a tough job already but one in Colorado had an especially challenging day when the truck he was in was struck by lightning. In fact, it was hit twice and while the worker survived, his truck didn’t escape unscathed. Here’s a peek into what happened, how a vehicle like this could protect its occupant, and how to avoid getting hit by lightning in a situation like this.
According to KKTV 11, the incident happened on July 19 in the Security-Winfield area of southeast Colorado Springs. A worker was in an articulated dump truck when lightning literally struck. Reports indicate that the unnamed worker was actually in the cab during a second strike before safely escaping and getting away without injury.
“It was like a big bomb and then all you see is smoke and it was a loud noise. Very loud noise,” Darla Wooden, mother of the worker said. That force was enough to literally dismount at least two of the tires on the Bell vehicle. This appears to be a B45E and if that’s true, we know a little more about its likely tire size too.
Keep in mind that these are likely 29.5 R25 tires. That makes them 73.3 inches in diameter so one stands at five foot six inches or the average height of a male American Buffalo. That’s right, we’re learning all sorts of nature facts today. The size designation 29.5 refers to how many inches wide the tread is. Having run a wheel and tire shop for a time, I can confidently say this is the coolest and most sketchy way to dismount a tire I’ve ever heard of. Notably, the big Bell dump rig wouldn’t shut off for several hours after the incident. Maybe the lightning gave it some sort of super battery? Or super powers? Probably not, but you never know.
A Peek At The Physics
Lt. Morgan Fullmer, of the Security Fire Department, was on the scene after the incident and told KKTV, “When you’re inside your vehicle, you’re protected generally, get inside your vehicle. If you can seek shelter, that’s gonna be your safest bet for working outside… Fortunately for him [the worker], being inside the vehicle saved his life today.”
How did being inside the vehicle save his life? Interestingly it wasn’t the tires as some myths propose, but instead the cab itself. Physicist Martin Ulman described the situation in his book All About Lightning. Essentially, the metal frame acts as a conduit for the electricity to flow most effectively to the ground. In the process of that flow, the occupants are typically protected from that flow. The vehicle becomes a Faraday cage at that moment.
According to Britannica.com, the electrons are gliding over the surface of the metal so quickly that they barely penetrate into the surface. This also clarifies why it’s not the tires that do the saving. Persons on a bicycle, motorcycle, or even in a convertible are susceptible to lighting because, despite having rubber tires beneath them, they don’t have a metal cage around them.
Of course, the safest way to deal with lightning is to not be around it in the first place. To that end, Lt. Fulmer suggests using apps that track lightning strikes and notify users when they’re in a potentially dangerous situation. That’s great advice that we bet the spared construction worker is going to follow from here on out – the rest of us should too, along with the National Weather Service’s lightning-safety tips here. Nobody, not even me, wants to see a tire dismounted like this (or much, much worse) in person.
And how tall is the average bison in Big Macs?
americanswilluseanythingbutthemetricsystem.gif
I was at Boy Scout camp in the mid 90s and they had outdoor showers. Basically a concrete slab with wooden walls and a dozen or so shower heads for us to shower under. The metal pipe was exposed and the showers were activated by a pull chain, so the water only ran when you pulled the chain. Anyway, we were showering and heard thunder off in the distance, so we quickly decided to rinse off and get out of there. We were not fast enough, and lightning struck the showers. About 8 of us got zapped to one degree or another. One kid lost his eyebrows, another had singed hair. My right arm was really sore and useless for the next day or 2. We all had to get checked out medically before being allowed to return to our campsites.
It is very loud! I was driving a 77′ 280Z down the freeway about 2001 when lightening struck my car. I was deaf for a day, permanent hearing damage in my right ear. It blew out all 4 of my tires, paint was smoking, but the Z was still idling, and it drove me home when I put new rubber on it. That said, over the next few months every relay in the car gave out. I started just replacing them in batches.
Makes you wonder how an EV is going to take a lightning strike. How well are the battery cells protected from a 2.2 gigawatt charge? At a minimum, I’m guessing it will be totalled due to every circuit board getting fried. Worst case, fiery death from exploding batteries?
No telling, but looking at the heat coming off my car afterwards, thermal runaway is not out of the question to say the least. I do not want to find out what lightening does to a lithium ion battery. Its one of the reasons my family still rolls around on Honda 4 cylinder power.
I know a guy that got struck by lightning twice. One of them was IN HIS HOTEL ROOM, through the window. What an unlucky bastard.
Naturally, he has a significant fear of thunderstorms, regardless of whether he’s inside or not.
There’s a phrase “lightning never strikes the same place twice”.
My first job was electroplating lightning conductors for churches. They got struck in the same place a lot. Twice is nothing.
yes, but aren’t those supposed to attract the lightning? Directing the lightning to one place instead of a random strike around?
Their job is to conduct the energy to the ground without damaging the church. Church steeples/towers get hit a lot by lightning regardless of whether they have a conductor fitted or not.
A bolt of lightning travels across an air gap thousands of feet high. A few feet of rubber inulation is barely an afterthought. Amazing that the metal cage functions as well as it does.
Interestingly, the science shows that if you are inside a Cybertruck when it gets hit by lightning, your hand gets cut by the sharp edges of the truck bed…
Yeah science. Lucky guy.
Another strike against fiberglass cars.
Two strikes, actually.
“This also clarifies why it’s not the tires that do the saving. Persons on a bicycle, motorcycle, or even in a convertible are susceptible to lighting”
As a convertible owner I’ve wondered about this and sort of assumed that would be the case. Thankfully it’s extremely rare to have lightning around these parts.
Boston’s Museum of Science has an indoor lightning exhibit capable of generating million-volt bolts of lightning. They reiterate: cars are the safest place to be in an electrical storm. But back when I had one, I asked about convertibles… yeah, not so much.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Sullivan
“ Sullivan had the strength and courage to strike the bear with a tree branch, despite the fact that his hair was on fire.”
I once saw two people on a Harley chopper get hit by lightning in the mountains of Colorado in about 1975. Rolling down the highway, bolt comes down and hits them.
I was standing there pumping gas when it happened. IDK how this shit works, but the entire gas station literally shut down somehow.
They ran off the road at about 45 mph into a field. Then the bike tipped over.
They did not fall off. But their clothes were smoking for about the 10 minutes it took for the usual authorities to show up. One good Samaritan ran into the field first, but there was no hope.
No survivors. Learned a healthy respect for Mother Nature that day. You never know.
That’s grim man. Holy hell.
Was only about 75 feet away from them when the lightning hit.
The ground actually shook, and the sound of the thunder was simultaneous with the strike.
TBH actually felt like the world was ending for a second or two. Not fun at all.
I remember a cousin of mine describing the time he was maybe 50 yards from a lightning strike that hit a transformer on a telephone pole. He said the same thing you did about the thunder being simultaneous… the noise was brain scrambling and that the top of the telephone pole looked like artillery had hit it. Just nuts…
I’m not saying it was the driver’s fault, but it is awfully suspicious that his truck was destroyed but he got a free day off work for it.
How did it do that to the tyres?
Sudden heating of the air inside blew the beads off the rims?
Or the path of the lightning burned itself a hole from the hub to the rubber to the ground.
Have seen pics of substation shorts that burned through foot thick concrete to seek ground, so that’s my guess
Agreed,
years ago my car got struck while it was being driven, all 4 tires blew out instantly, but all still in the bead of the rim. The tire tech said the rubber was cooked, it just crumbled off the rim, they only needed the machine to take off the bead thread.
My house was also struck recently, bounced from a gutter (blew it off the house) to a adult Pecan tree (split it down the middle), then trough the foundation of a carport. Cracked it down the middle trying to ground out.
Mother Nature always gets her way!
It sure does, and in weird ways
!!!
Uh…last I checked, 73 inches was 6 foot 1…?
I didn’t want to be pedantic but that calculation was driving me nuts too. But, maybe the tread was completely worn out on this tire?
This new math they are teaching kids today.
I guess 5’6” is the new 6’1”
Hey, I’m finally over 6 feet tall! Huzzah new maths!
Oh, wait. It goes the other way. Damn. I guess now I’m jockey-size.
It’s the same math that makes Chrysler products what they are today!
“Persons on a bicycle, motorcycle, or even in a convertible are susceptible to lighting because, despite having rubber tires beneath them, they don’t have a metal cage around them.”
Hardtop convertible FTW!!!
Reckon I’ll be greasing the hold-downs with dielectric grease. Wait: I think my heard top is fiberglass. Crap!
Not that it would probably matter in the case of a lightning strike, but if anything you want to encourage the electricity to flow through the frame instead of you, so dielectric grease would be counterproductive.
I could be wrong, but, my understanding of dielectric grease is that it protects components from moisture & corrosion therefore helping to ensure a stable connection. I know it doesn’t conduct current itself: instead, it promotes good contact where needed
My hardtop is fiberglass, so maybe not a win for me.
See it, no, but I’d like to hear it!
My father in law was hit by lightning while on the highway near the Charleston Airport. He was totally fine, the dog inside went completely nuts, and there was a scorch mark on the top of his Ridgeline. They ended up replacing pretty much every computer module on that thing, but it was still wonky sometimes so he traded it i during crazy covid times for more than he paid for it.