Lightning Befalls Members Of Holy Family Girls Softball Team

Holy Family Church
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403 Union St. Rockland, MA 02370 (781) 878-0160

Lightning Strike
by Maria Papadopoulos, Enterprise staff writer

ROCKLAND — Thirteen people were sent to hospitals Sunday after lightning struck a tree during a girls softball game at Memorial Park's softball field. Seven teenage girls and six adults were taken by ambulance to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and Brockton Hospital, according to Rockland Deputy Fire Chief Bill Ferguson.

While the extent of their injuries was not available Sunday, Ferguson said it is believed the victims were not struck directly by lightning and all were "conscious and alert" when transported.

"Limbs came off the tree and all the people were lying on the ground," said Richard Elliot, 50, who was walking behind home plate at the time. His daughter, Allison, 17, had been playing on the field. "(The lightning) went into the ground and just kind of came up everywhere," he said.

Some people were sitting on the bleachers near the tree, while others were sitting on metal chairs on the grass, he said. "One lady had a burn mark on her arm," Elliot said. "She was sitting in a metal chair and she had two burn marks. People just froze," he said. "They didn't want to move. They didn't know if another strike was coming. It was pretty scary."

Authorities were called to the ball field at 3:51 p.m. Sunday after lightning struck a large pine tree, made its way to the ground, and affected spectators and players with its current. "This was a chaotic scene," Deputy Chief Ferguson said. "There were people confused. The tree was split."

Members of the girls softball team from Holy Family Church in Rockland were leaving the field after the umpire had called the game because of lightning in the area. The victims reported symptoms ranging from tingling sensations to confusion, Ferguson said. Rockland fire crews requested an ambulance strike team from Plymouth County Control to transport the victims, Ferguson said.

"The kids are stunned physically and emotionally," said Ruth Byrne of Rockland, whose daughters Lily, 18, and Anna, 15, had been playing softball. "The impact knocked them off their feet." Byrne said her daughters were not injured. "It was very frightening for them," she said.

"It was just unbelievable," said Bruce Krupnick, who lives on Grove Street in Rockland, directly behind the ball field. Krupnick, 42, said he and his family were eating outdoors near the swimming pool at his housing complex when the sunny weather changed within "minutes." Clouds began to darken and the wind picked up, he said.

"Next thing you know, you hear this big, huge boom-boom-boom," Krupnick said. "It was more of a cracking-type boom. You could tell the lightning hit something and we didn't know where. We noticed activity near the ball field."

"I said, 'Something's happening. Let's get out of here.' Then the fire engines started coming down the street," Krupnick said. Krupnick went to the ball field where he saw several ambulances and noticed the lightning damage to the tree. "It stripped the bark right off it," he said. "The heat from the bolt actually sent a crack right through the tree. It's simply unbelievable. The bleachers are right in front of it."

Lightning is the second greatest cause of storm-related deaths in the country, killing more than tornadoes or hurricanes, according to the National Weather Service. People are advised to go inside if they hear thunder, but stay away from corded telephones, electrical appliances and plumbing.

Meteorologist Charlie Foley of the National Weather Service in Taunton said Sunday's lightning activity was part of a series of thunderstorms that hit the region. "There was a lot of lightning," Foley said. "The atmosphere itself was very unstable and at the same time, we had a boundary or a front that was moving southward across the area."

"When you have this kind of heat and you have a very moist ripe atmosphere, you get these storms that just blossom up with the heating, interacting with the moisture," he said. Elliot said it was an unusual storm. "It was one cloud," Elliot said. "That's why nobody was rushing off the field. It was bright on both sides and there was one big black cloud."

Ferguson cautioned that people could develop problems after a lightning strike, including cardiac arrhythmia, a disturbance in the heart's rhythm which can be fatal.

"I've been around baseball fields all my life and it was the first time I've never seen a lightning strike like that," Elliot said.