Lol that was 2011 during my hiatus from AS!Fixed it Steve.
Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)
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Lightning struck my chimney right after we built the house. My wife came running in the kitchen screaming. I said , don't worry, the house is grounded. She said , "aren't you afraid the house is one fire?". I said, "No not worried". My daughter was still using a booster chair at the table. I said, "Jen, you worried?". She shook her head no. Told the wife I'd check it out after lunch. It did blow out every electrical appliance in the house, and when I went outside, there was a great big chunk of my chimney sitting in the front seat of my brand new car.
Yes, it went through the windshield.
When I was 5 or 6 years old during a hot summer rain , me and my brothers musta been driving my mother bonkers, she made us put our bathing suits and go out and play in the rain saying that "**** doesn't melt in the rain so get out there ! " .
While we were having fun a bolt of lightning struck a transformer about 100 yards from the house, what a great fireworks show for us , while we were watching the show several more claps of thunder happened.
When we came back in I remember mom being wound up more than we were , apparently she witnessed a ball of lightning roll through an open window in the living room and then straight out through an open window of the kitchen .
The only damage to the house was a melted telephone lol
While we were having fun a bolt of lightning struck a transformer about 100 yards from the house, what a great fireworks show for us , while we were watching the show several more claps of thunder happened.
When we came back in I remember mom being wound up more than we were , apparently she witnessed a ball of lightning roll through an open window in the living room and then straight out through an open window of the kitchen .
The only damage to the house was a melted telephone lol
Saw lightning hit an old hemlock tree down the road. Just happened to be looking out the window when it hit. Yeah I squealed like a little girl! Went down after and it was awesome. It blew chunks of wood out of the core, split the trunk halfway up. We found fist size chunks of wood in the outfield and the tree is behind the bench at the local ball field. Tree is still living and looks fine now.
Getting ready for the first camping trip of the season. Usually I am the firewood guy and bring enough for the whole weekend and we always have a roaring fire. It’s so dry here there is a fire ban so we will have to sit around a lamp or something. Hopefully svk sends us some of that rain!
Getting ready for the first camping trip of the season. Usually I am the firewood guy and bring enough for the whole weekend and we always have a roaring fire. It’s so dry here there is a fire ban so we will have to sit around a lamp or something. Hopefully svk sends us some of that rain!
I think the rain is finally done here for a few days!
My grandparents house was struck twice during the 44 years they lived there. First time it burned out the tv. Their dog was laying right in front of it and was deathly afraid of storms from that day forward.
Second time it hit the top of the house and exited through the soffit above the back door. Burned out the switch for the back door light and blew about a dime size hole out of the soffit.
panolo
Seldom right...Always opinionated!
Saw it hit a car once when we were driving. I also worked with a guy who got hit. It didn't kill him but basically mangled his big toe on his left foot. He claimed some type of shoe saved his life because it has thicker rubber soles or something to the effect. He always looked goofy wearing the same brand of shoe all the time.
James Miller
Addicted to ArboristSite
@farmer steve you should get a pic of the locust that was hit across from the shop. Never seen anything get hit. There's one tree along the drive way that looks like it took a hit but it's still getting leaves on it so I guess it kind of recovered.
That's my favourite little factlet, about the 11th July being the coldest day. Now the weatherman has gone and told everyone now I won't be able to educate people about it. Coincidentally, Cowgirl's birthday is also the 11th of July. If I was a good husband, Cowgirl's birthday would keep reminding me that the 11th is a particular day, but in my case, it's the other way around. Stihl, the system works
.G'day Oz, good to see you around. I'm in the best part of Vic, that being 90km south of Wodonga in the Kiewa Valley. As I type, I'm looking at the snow on Mt Bogong. I was a Melbourne boy originally but it'll be a cold day in hell before I live in a city like that again (then again, if there was a cold day in hell, a scrounger could finally make some good money). Where are you, roughly?
I had two good lumps of coaly blue gum left this morning. Gave it a poke or two.
Then scraped them up into a row in the middle with a round either side and a cover on top to burn them down.
Here's the locust.about 100 feet from the house and about 30 feet from were my wifes brand new F-250 was sitting. there are 2 locust trees growing about 2 feet apart. the lightning hit the one and came part way down and jumped to the other. looks like they died so they will be firewood next fall.
Here's the locust.about 100 feet from the house and about 30 feet from were my wifes brand new F-250 was sitting. there are 2 locust trees growing about 2 feet apart. the lightning hit the one and came part way down and jumped to the other. looks like they died so they will be firewood next fall.
Looks like tasty future firewood to me, FS
. I have been told that lighting struck trees are no good as firewood. Rumour goes that when they get hit, the volatiles in the wood evaporate and the wood just smoulders in the firebox. I have no evidence, either empirical or from personal experience to back this up. Pure hearsay. Anyone know if this is correct or not?
Logic tells me that even if those flamey volatiles have evaporated, lightning struck wood chucked into a hot firebox will at the very least burn like a similarly sized lump of charcoal.
On the topic of lightening strikes I can go one up on all those stories. When I was 16, one hot summer day I got stuck in a thunderstorm riding home from school. When I got home I grabbed the garage roller door and BANG and I mean Big Bang, I collapsed to the ground, got up and ran into the house, my mum was there and I told her I’d been hit by lightening. She didn’t believe me and said “you’d be dead if your hit” which made sense. Any way a few days later my mum was hanging the washing out and the neighbor asked “how’s your son going” why? “because I saw him get hit by lightening”, she said it hit me in the back pack and I instantly collapsed but got up real fast.
I had a bad headache and sore joints for 2 weeks after that otherwise okay, didn’t even go to the doctor. It was like an electric fence times 1000.
I suspect the bolt split up into multiple strike points as we had a light bulb actually explode in the house. Glad I didn’t explode like farmer Steve’s locust.
Reading all these stories makes me think there’s probably a decent chance of getting hit by lightening at some point in your life.
I had a bad headache and sore joints for 2 weeks after that otherwise okay, didn’t even go to the doctor. It was like an electric fence times 1000.
I suspect the bolt split up into multiple strike points as we had a light bulb actually explode in the house. Glad I didn’t explode like farmer Steve’s locust.
Reading all these stories makes me think there’s probably a decent chance of getting hit by lightening at some point in your life.
There sure is, and I'm glad you drew that stick lol.
Seriously that's some scary stuff. I was just watching a show on people who get struck by lightening and other things lightening does and does not do. On the show there was a guy who had recently been struck, had a wild looking mark on his shoulder, some guy revived him a couple times, no need to play the lottery as he just got real lucky
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I’ve heard that and also heard that if you burn lightning struck wood, superstition says it will burn your house down.Looks like tasty future firewood to me, FS
I have been told that lighting struck trees are no good as firewood. Rumour goes that when they get hit, the volatiles in the wood evaporate and the wood just smoulders in the firebox. I have no evidence, either empirical or from personal experience to back this up. Pure hearsay. Anyone know if this is correct or not?
Logic tells me that even if those flamey volatiles have evaporated, lightning struck wood chucked into a hot firebox will at the very least burn like a similarly sized lump of charcoal.
I’ve only processed a couple of lightning struck trees and made sure they went to a place where they could not be burned indoors.
I read a theory lightning may case harden the wood so it can't ever dry properly. Bear with me as I'm no expert but wood needs to dry the water out the cells, and water around them (the sap). The sap dries first and readily, the cells slower. Case hardening is something that can happen if wood is rapidly kiln dried... The sap comes out but the cells get sealed in some way and then either dry very slowly or never. I'm sure someone can explain that much better.... Then please leave and go to h e a r t h.com, you're not wanted here.
All of the stories about struck trees not burning well, or popping and spitting, are just stories. We took down many lightning struck trees when Dad was in business. Most were big Oaks and Tulip Poplars, the tallest trees in the area, they all burned normally.
One big Oak we took down was right behind the owners back door and had a cable dog run bolted to it. When it got struck their pet German Shepard was on the run and got killed.
I have never seen a tree get hit, but my favorite tree stand on my property got hit a # of years ago, and it may have been my fault. I took lots of deer and a coyote and bobcat from that stand, and I still miss it.
As the tree grew into the steps, and as I got older, it got more difficult to get into it, and I even fell off the steps one icy/snowy opening morning. So I attached a metal handle where I transitioned from the steps to the platform. It think that is what got hit. Was a beautiful Cherry tree, now laying on the ground, and no other tree gives access to those shooting lanes.
As the tree grew into the steps, and as I got older, it got more difficult to get into it, and I even fell off the steps one icy/snowy opening morning. So I attached a metal handle where I transitioned from the steps to the platform. It think that is what got hit. Was a beautiful Cherry tree, now laying on the ground, and no other tree gives access to those shooting lanes.
