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When lightning strikes

  • Published
  • By R.J. Oriez
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  As Airmen were leaving the F.E. Warren Air Force Base Theater after a commander's call May 7, the air was split with an extremely loud clap of thunder. Less than a half-mile away, a large cottonwood tree exploded as a bolt of lightning traveled down its branches and trunk into the ground between two of the historic brick houses on Fort Warren Avenue. Pieces of the tree were blown up to a block away.

According to Melissa Fortig, Balfour Beatty Communities assistant community manager, four housing units were damaged and other units lost their gas service until a gas line could be repaired. An initial estimate of the damage is more than $50,000.

The quarters of Maj. Richard Fongemie, 90th Munitions Squadron maintenance operations officer, took the hardest hit.

"It blew out about six windows and damaged the gas line and the water line." Fongemie said.

The lightning strike also did extensive damage to his porch, breaking off a large piece of a support pillar and leaving holes in the railing.

While Fongemie's wife and daughter were home, no injuries were reported, though they said they found the event very scary.

"(My wife) never heard the bang," Fongemie reported, "she just saw a big flash and then heard my daughter screaming as the glass (from a window) landed on her."

Fongemie believed the lightning traveled down the tree and through one of its roots into the lawn. It then found his water hose and followed it into the house's plumbing.

"In the basement it arced to the gas line." Fongemie said. "It blew the cap off the gas meter and melted it."

The Fongemie family pets, a bird and a chinchilla, were rescued by firefighters from the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron, who had to don air tanks due to the presence of gas in the house.

The Fongemies were able to move back in to their home three days after the lightning strike and repairs are ongoing.