Published: April 01, 2008 10:48 pm            

Lightning hits hospital building

Strike hits Union Hospital Professional Office Building, sends pieces of brick falling

TERRE HAUTE — People exercising in Union Hospital’s fitness center got their heart rates up quickly Monday afternoon when lightning struck the building right above their heads.

“It was just a big, loud boom,” said Rayetta Minton, supervisor of fitness services for Union. “It kind of shook the building a little bit.”

The lightning hit the top floor of the Union Hospital Professional Office Building at 1530 N. Seventh St., sending pieces of brick falling five stories to the parking lot below. The falling brick damaged two cars, which Union Hospital will pay to repair, said Kristi Roshel, a hospital spokeswoman.

Roshel was among several people exercising in the fitness center, which is on the top floor of the Professional Office Building, when the lightning bolt hit right above her. “I never got off the treadmill so fast in my life,” she said. Some people on nearby exercise equipment screamed, she said.

Minton, who was on the telephone in the fitness center when the bolt struck, said the phone went dead. In fact, the hospital lost about 40 percent of its phone service temporarily after the lightning hit, Roshel noted.

Hospital authorities evacuated the Professional Office Building for about 15 minutes after the strike, Roshel said. Terre Haute firefighters went to the roof of the building and made sure their was no fire or other danger before people were allowed back inside, she said.

Fortunately, when the building was constructed, it included a ground system that runs around the building to distribute electricity for just such an incident, Roshel said. “That system worked perfectly.”

The damage from the direct lightning strike can be repaired, Roshel noted. Most importantly, hospital employees responded well to the emergency.

“It put us to the test,” Minton said. “Everybody stayed on their toes.”

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.

        

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