A Springfield, Massachusetts man said he's "lucky" after a close call during a lightning storm on Tuesday (July 6).
Bob Brandon told WWLP 22News that he was returning home from work and taking his trash bins back up the driveway when a lightning bolt struck the bin behind him.
Brandon said the lightning bolt left two holes in the trash bin and shot back out towards the street. The Springfield man managed to take the bin back and immediately run for shelter, as shown in a video of the incident shared by WWLP 22News.
“I could feel the static electricity starting to build up, like when your hair stands up," Brandon said. "And then it got really intense right away within two seconds I heard the loud bang. I saw the white flash. But I am here today so I guess everything is good."
Brandon said that he's thankful of avoiding any injuries caused by the lightning bolt and feels very lucky, despite the frightening situation he found himself in.
In Franklin, a presumed lightning strike is believed to have caused a fire resulting in heavy damage to a home early Thursday (July 8) morning.
Homeowner Robert Glencross told CBS Boston that he was woken up by a starling sound at around 4:00 a.m.
“It was the loudest explosion. It sounded like a bomb going off. It was just like that, ba-boom! The house shook, I shook and I knew what it was,” Glencross said. “There is no doubt about it. It hit the house and it hit it good.”
Glencross said he grabbed his cell phone and wallet before running out of his North Park Street home and was met by pouring rain and smoke coming out of his roof, which then erupted in flames.
While Glencross believes the fire was caused by lightning, its official cause remains under investigation.