Two Newburgh boys were unharmed after they were shocked by a lightning strike from inside their home during a powerful thunderstorm that passed through the Bangor region on Sunday afternoon.
Fire and rescue crews responded to a call of a lightning strike on North Road in Newburgh at 3:48 p.m. on Sunday, Newburgh Fire Chief Brent Somers said. First responders believe lightning struck the ground outside the boys’ home, then traveled into the house where the boys were with their parents.
The 16-year-old was shocked because he was touching the refrigerator that was plugged into the wall, and the 6-year-old was shocked because he was holding an electronic device that was plugged into the wall, Somers said.
The two boys were unharmed, conscious and in good spirits when first responders arrived, Somers said. The 6-year-old boy did tell an emergency medical technician his elbow was a little sore, likely because the electrical current ran up one arm and down the other.
“I’ve been with the Newburgh fire department for 35 years and this is the first time I’ve had to deal with [a shock] through lightning,” Somers said. “It was a pleasant surprise for us to find what we did compared to what could’ve happened.”
Emergency medical technicians checked and cleared the two boys in their home and neither needed to be transported to the hospital.
Neither parent was shocked during the event, Somers said.
The home also did not sustain any damage from the strike, though first responders did unplug the refrigerator “as a precaution,” Somers said.