Lightning strike ignites roof, tests definition of luck
It’s said lightning never strikes twice in the same place. But what do the old wives say about someone who has had three near misses?
That would be George Burns, Nevada’s top banking regulator, whose office building on Desert Inn Road, near McLeod Drive, was struck by lightning about 3 p.m. Monday.
The resulting two-alarm fire caused an estimated $50,000 to $100,000 in damages, Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said. One person was treated for smoke inhalation on scene, but no other injuries were reported.
The fire was just one result of the brief storm that hit the Las Vegas Valley on Monday afternoon. It also caused street flooding and scattered power outages.
"My wife says if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any," said a somewhat disheveled Burns, who was soaked during the building evacuation, which forced about 50 people into the downpour.
The lightning started a small fire that burned a hole in his office building’s roof and filled the two-story structure with smoke. The building houses about a dozen businesses.
This wasn’t the closest call involving lightning for Burns, who once was knocked off his feet when a bolt from the sky struck a nearby tree at Lake Tahoe. His first encounter with the natural phenomenon happened while he was flying over Oklahoma. Lightning struck the wing of the plane and caused it to briefly tilt while passengers screamed.
Maybe he’s actually extra lucky because he’s never been directly hit?
"I am the state regulator for banking," Burns said with a slight laugh. "What does that tell you?"
Fire officials said damage was confined mainly to the roof, but Burns, whose office is on the first floor directly beneath where the lightning hit, said his area was flooded. The second-story space that was damaged is vacant.
While the National Weather Service recorded the official rainfall at McCarran International Airport to be just 0.05 inches, the eastern part of the valley saw as much as 0.75 inches Monday, weather service meteorologist John Hurley said.
The storm caused some flight delays and a brief cease-fueling order at McCarran, but rumors that operations had been shut down were false.
"It seems like it’s getting a little overblown, but there has been some impact," airport spokesman Chris Jones said Monday evening.
Storms appeared on radar northeast of Las Vegas and over parts of the Sheep Mountain Range after 5:30 p.m., but rain that prompted a flooding advisory in the valley had stopped by early evening.
Winds reached 47 mph near Flamingo Road and Eastern Avenue, Hurley said.
The forecast reports a storm watch over the Sierra Nevada mountains this week, but a severe weather watch isn’t expected in the valley, he said.
Late-night showers are expected today , Wednesday and Thursday.
The forecast calls for temperatures to drop throughout the week, with the high only in the mid-60s by Friday.
Contact Jessica Fryman at jfryman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0264.