Lightning causes fire, outages

By Brian Wright
Staff Writer
Published on Sunday, August 10, 2008 4:59 PM MST

Thunderstorms and lightning knocked out power throughout a large part of Safford and set two palm trees ablaze Thursday evening and lit up the night like a Fourth of July celebration in the process.

James Bryce, a utilities electrician with the city of Safford, said lightning was the likely cause of a blown transformer fuse that needed repair. His office received a call about 10 p.m., and he said the city of Safford employees restored power to most of the city by 10:30 p.m. Several homes had power back on about 20 minutes later.

Bryce said most of the same people who were without power Aug. 2 after a car crashed into a utility pole were without power Thursday night. The number of power outages, however, has not been abnormally high for the amount of recent storm activity, according to Bryce.

Safford firefighters put out fires in the tops of palm trees on 12th Avenue that were struck by lightning Thursday night. Photo by Jon Johnson

“The power system has held up quite well,” he said.

Thursday evening was an especially intense storm.

“It was one of the worst lightning storms we’ve seen in some time,” Bryce said.

Two palm trees at the 2500 block of 12th Avenue also caught fire after being struck by lightning.

The Safford Fire Department was called to the scene about 10:25 p.m. Strong winds out of the northeast blew embers from the trees into neighbors’ yards. The embers also caused significant damage to two cars in the vicinity after burning paint and other parts of the vehicles.

“It took about 45 minutes to put out the palm trees,” Safford Fire Chief Mike Rhodes said.

Other than the two cars that were damaged, the fire didn’t spread anywhere else.

“It was raining, so everything was pretty well saturated,” Rhodes said.

Print this story Email this story Post A Comment

Comments

2 comment(s)

Jon Johnson wrote on Aug 11, 2008 11:13 AM:

" Thanks. "

reptilist wrote on Aug 11, 2008 5:45 AM:

" That's a great picture, Jon!!! "

WRITE A COMMENT

READER COMMENTS
* Be respectful of others, the writer and the subjects in the story.

* Be relevant. Keep your comments pertinent to the story that is being discussed.

Comment posters are responsible for the opinions they express and the accuracy of the information they provide. We urge comment writers to treat this as a public forum where manners matter. We encourage a collegial, non-insulting tone. All reader comments must be approved by our staff before posting to the Web site. Be aware, in accordance with the Communications Decency Act and provisions upheld in judicial appeal, that you are responsible for comments posted on this Web site. The Eastern Arizona Courier is not liable for messages from third parties. IP addresses can be subpoenaed and your identity established by individuals who have been hurt by your comments.

DO NOT POST:
* Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults or threats.
* The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity: You can be prosecuted for identity theft.
* Comments unrelated to the story.

Opinions, advice and all other information expressed in www.eacourier.com reader comments represent the individual's own views and not those of the Eastern Arizona Courier. The Courier does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice or opinions offered by anyone other than Eastern Arizona Courier spokespersons.

Thank you for your comments!