One airman hospitalized, three released after lightning strike

EGLIN AFB — Four Hurlburt Field airmen were injured in a lightning strike Monday morning while conducting vehicle navigation drills in the woods of Eglin reservation just north of Niceville.

The instructor and three students were among 30 members of Detachment 3 of the 342nd Training Squadron, according to Jeremy Webster with the 1st Special Operations Wing public affairs.

The members of the Tactical Air Control Party had just broken into groups and were getting into their canvas-topped Humvees during an 8 a.m. thunderstorm when the strike happened.

The instructor, Staff Sgt. John T. Dean, was directly struck by lightning. He was admitted to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition, the release stated. The other three were around him when he was struck.

Another instructor noticed what happened, and a supervisor called for medical help.

The three students — Senior Airman Michael L. Fox, Airman 1st Class Ryan F. Cleaver and Airman Basic Duriel I. Harris — were examined at the hospital before being released for duty.

Emergency officials from Niceville Fire Department and Eglin Air Force Base removed the victims from the woods near Anderson Pond.

“All four of them had signs of a lightning strike, but two of them were worse than the others,” said Niceville Fire Department Chief Tommy Mayville. “There weren’t any actual exit wounds but there were markings on them where the lightning went in and came out.”

He said all four were conscious when rescue crews arrived on the scene.

The airmen had left early Monday morning for the exercise, which involved spending five days in the field, Webster said.

They were originally going to do a navigation exercise on foot, but the curriculum was modified due to the inclement weather. Instead, the group was doing vehicle navigation. The team included a medical personnel member, he said.

The rest of the detachment remained in the field on Monday with plans to return Friday as planned.

“Though training is paramount, our people and our safety are our top priority,” Col. Gregory J. Lengyel, 1st Special Operations Wing commander, was quoted as saying in the press release. “We are proud of our safety record and will continue to ensure we practice stringent safety measures to minimize incidents like this.”

The incident is under investigation by a board of officers, according to the release.

The storm passing over the Niceville area at that time involved only about five to 10 lightning strikes, according to Jack Cullen, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Mobile, Ala.

“They must have been really unlucky,” Cullen said. “It wasn’t, by normal definition, a severe thunderstorm.”

But, he added, all thunderstorms produce lightning, which makes them dangerous.

“It’s just unfortunate that they happened to be outside at that time,” he said.

Florida leads the country in the number of fatal lightning strikes.

From 1959 to 2008, Florida has had 455 lightning fatalities, compared to the No. 2 state, Texas, with 207 in the same time period. Between 1999 and 2008, Florida had 70 deaths, compared to the second-highest state, Colorado, with 28.

“Part of that is there are going to be more people outside in Florida,” said Kelly Godsey, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tallahassee. “There are also a greater number of thunderstorms per year in Florida than anywhere else in the country.”

Godsey urged people who see a storm approaching to take cover in a sturdy shelter even before you hear thunder. Cars only offer protection if they have a hard top on them, he said. Those with a soft top — like the canvas-covered Humvee — offer no protection.

“The most dangerous strikes with lightning are the first couple and the last couple of strikes,” he said, adding that people typically stay inside during the more intense part of the storm.

In 2006, six Army Rangers trainees were struck by lightning at Camp James Rudder. The trainees were lying on the ground when lightning struck a nearby tree. They were not seriously injured.

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In 1996, a Hurlburt Field airman was killed by lightning while working on the flight line. Two others were injured in that incident.

To read about that incident, click here.