4 teenagers struck by lightning while under tree in Florida
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue crews said they responded at 5:45 p.m. after receiving reports of multiple people being struck by lightning.
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On Thursday afternoon, dark storm clouds loomed over homes in Kansas City, Missouri. A bolt of lightning struck a house across the street from Jordan Frederick's residence, as captured by his doorbell camera. Seconds later, a loud roll of thunder could be heard.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Four teenagers were struck by lightning in downtown St. Petersburg on Thursday while underneath a banyan tree at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Beach Drive.
St. Petersburg Fire Rescue crews said they responded at 5:45 p.m. after receiving reports of multiple people being struck by lightning.
First responders said three of the teens were listed in stable condition at either Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital or Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital.
The Banyan tree where the teenagers stood.
(St. Petersburg Fire Rescue / FOX 13 News)
Ashley King, 16, is listed in critical condition, though, as of Friday morning after she went into cardiac arrest for 15 minutes while being treated. Paramedics were fortunately able to get a pulse as they pulled into Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital.
She was later transferred to All Children's where she remains in critical condition.
FOX 13 has been in contact with her father the morning after the incident.
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He said she is a rising junior at Hollins High School in St. Pete. He told FOX 13 he wants people to know that hiding under a tree in a storm is not a good idea.
A boy who was struck suffered burns related to the lightning strike and is listed as stable despite being listed as a trauma alert.
Paramedics responded to find two of the teens lying on the ground, while the other two approached them, saying they were hit as well.
Scene after the lightning strike.
(Rocco Defrenza / FOX 13 News)
"Lightning can strike seven miles, ten miles away from the parent thunderstorm, so even though you see a thunderstorm in the distance, if you hear thunder, technically you're in danger of being hit," FOX 13 Chief Meteorologist Paul Dellegatto said.
Bystanders told FOX 13 that they heard the loud cracks of thunder and lightning and then almost immediately saw a sea of ambulances and fire trucks rush to the scene.