Billings woman recalls indirect lightning strike 20 years ago

Three people were struck by lightning at Glacier High School in Kalispell Monday, and though storms are no surprise in Montana, it can be dangerous for people even if they're inside.

Billings resident Liz Fulton found this out the hard way 20 years ago.

"It all happened so fast. I had sort of an indirect lightning strike but it felt direct," said Fulton over video chat Tuesday.

It was a spring night in Billings on Gregory Drive 20 years ago when Fulton was trying to coax her cat inside.

"Lightning struck the tree right in my front yard, just a few feet from the front porch," Fulton said.

She went to flip on her porch light, not expecting what came next.

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"When lightning came down through the tree, it arched back through me into the house through the switch," said Fulton.

The electrical wires had tangled with the tree roots, causing the lightning to travel through the switch. The impact from the strike threw her against a wall.

"And I kind of jumped up off the floor thinking that I would be missing an arm because that was the sensation I had, was this hot extreme heat coming through my arm. And I looked down and I thought, I'm okay," Fulton said.

Thankfully Fulton lived to tell the tale but it's one that's more common than you think.

"On average, there's about 27 fatalities per year nationally due to lightning," said Billings National Weather Service meteorologist John Wetenkamp.

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Wetenkamp said that nearly 200 injuries are reported yearly because of lightning strikes.

"It's important to know that if you can hear thunder, the thunderstorm is close enough to produce lightning that can strike you," Wetenkamp said.

He said the safest place to be in a thunderstorm is inside a building or a hard-top vehicle with the windows up, as long as you're mindful.

"Lightning can travel through any metal objects or wires and get into a home that way. You wouldn't want to be using any appliances at that time, either when there's a thunderstorm in the area," said Wetenkamp.

It's a life lesson that Fulton luckily survived.

"You never quite lose that or forget what that sounded like and felt like and looked like that night," Fulton said.