Minto Lakes Fire Lightning Strike Near Miss 2022

An incident ambulance crew of two people was staged at their posting position at a Drop Point (DP) on the Minto Lakes Fire, Alaska. The DP was at a high point of terrain relative to the surrounding terrain and was also the site of a utility tower. At approximately 1845, while the ambulance crew was sitting in their tent structure taking shelter from rain, a lightning strike occurred on—or very near—their tent. They evacuated the tent and climbed into a van with other personnel to wait out the weather. No injuries were reported. A small one-by-two-inch hole was noted in the tent structure cover.

Hit by Lightning, RLS