How lightning struck multiple Butler County structures during severe storms Thursday
Dave Bauerle saw the fuse box in the garage light up seconds before seeing a flash of lightning while at work on Thursday, Sept. 3. He ducked when thunder boomed. The hair on his arms stood straight up.
When recalling the incident Friday afternoon, he said he couldn’t tell if the hair stood up due to the sound or the electricity in the air.
Bauerle, an employee at Bill Errera’s Auto Sales & Services in Center Township, had little to no notice before lightning struck nearby during severe storms.
“(It was) way louder than I’ve ever heard it before,” Bauerle said.
A neighbor said he believed the lighting struck a pole near Errera’s property before arching over to the adjacent cul-de-sac on North Ridge Lane. A faint burning smell was still present in the air Friday afternoon.
A 911 call was placed in response at 9:49 a.m., according to Butler County Emergency Services dispatch records, but no fire was found.
John Kennedy of Slippery Rock Township had an electrician over Friday after his house on Franklin Road was struck by lightning the previous night.
He said it appeared the doorbell was affected. The chime box was fried and filled the home with smoke. Other minor circuit breakers and devices, such as an old TV were also fried, Kennedy said.
His wife was the only one home at the time. She reported the house shook, but the power didn’t go out. The strike prompted a call to their residence at 5:38 p.m.
Chris Beck, the quality assurance and training coordinator for Butler County Emergency Services, said the 911 center received the bulk of its storm-related calls between 5 p.m. and midnight.
It received 43 storm-related calls in that time.
“They were definitely busier in the evening hours last night with storm-related calls,” Beck said. “It’s literally one end of the county to the other.”
The center also took 19 calls for downed trees or power lines and three calls for flooding, according to dispatch records. Beck said there were no storm-related vehicle crashes or injuries he was aware of.
More than 1,000 county residents also experienced power outages from the storms. First Energy Corporation reported 548 customers without power Friday morning with the majority of the 169 reported in Winfield Township.
Central Electric Cooperative reported four outages Friday morning, but 459 homes in northeastern Butler County were affected by outages.
