By Renee Worthing
Staff Writer
Strong thunderstorms that rolled across southern York County June 17 kept Sanford and Kennebunk firefighters busy.
Not only did lightning cause power outages, structures in both towns were struck.  
Sanford Fire Department Capt. Gary Cushing said a lighting strike reported at 4 p.m. at Associated Eye Care in Sanford triggered a fire alarm. He said while fire fighters reset the alarm, they received another call about a lightning strike at 277 Blanchard Road in Springvale.
Cushing said the lightning strike blew a hole in the roof and ceiling of the home, owned by Ronald Nevison, but did not cause a fire.
Cushing said the residents were home at the time of the strike, but no injuries were reported. However, while firefighters assessed the damage at the Nevison home, a 16-year-old boy across the street reported a “tingling sensation” after the strike.
The boy told rescue personnel he had been sitting on the end of a phone charger that was plugged into the wall at the time lightning hit the house across the street. Cushing said the boy reported a small red mark on his buttocks, but refused medical treatment.
Cushing said it was “very reasonable” to assume the lighting traveled back through the power lines on that road.
Kennebunk Fire Chief Stephen Nichols said the fire department responded to about five lightning related calls.
Nichols said lightning knocked out power in areas of town, which triggered alarms at William Arthur, Huntington Common and the Unitarian Universalist Church on Main Street.
He said firefighters responding to the church noticed lightning had struck a utility pole in front of the church.
“I don’t know why it didn’t hit the steeple,” Nichols said.
He said lightning also struck Windsor Commons on Cat Mousam Road. While the strike didn’t start a fire, it did burn out electric garage door openers of several units.
“There were eight garage doors open doors in the middle of that storm,” he said.
Cushing said people should to be extremely cautious when thunderstorms roll through the area.
He said telephones are the most dangerous piece of equipment to use during an electrical storm.
“People should also stay away from sinks, pipes and water,” he said.
He said water and pipes are a conduit for lightning as it tries to find its way to the ground.
“Most people shut off their computers and televisions during a storm to avoid damage, but they need to be unplugged,” Cushing said.
People who are caught outdoors when a storm approaches should seek shelter right away, either in a building or a car, he said.
Nichols said he recalled a lightning strike on Fletcher Street last year that hit a tree.
He said the lightning followed the tree’s roots, went through the ground, up a downspout, across a gutter to an exhaust that vented a bathroom ceiling fan. The fan caught fire, he said.
“Lighting takes strange routes,” Nichols said.
He said if lightning strikes a building, the people inside should get out immediately, seek refuge elsewhere and call the fire department.
People who are unable to get into a shelter should stay away from trees, which may attract lighting. He said people should crouch down to the ground, keeping their feet close together.
“Don’t sit,” he said. “That just makes a larger base for the lighting to travel through.”
He said a group of people caught outdoors in a storm should move away from each other rather than huddle together in order to make smaller targets for lightning.
He said the best advice is to move indoors right away if a storm approaches.
“If you can hear thunder, you can be struck,” he said. “Wait 30 minutes after you hear the last thunder before going outside.”
Cushing said lightning can strike 10 miles in front of, and 10 miles behind a storm.
“Injuries by lighting are devastating,” he said. “They are deep, internal burns.”