Lightning Strikes Tree

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31857, 9 December 1968, Page 1

Lightning Strikes Tree

A bolt of lightning struck a 40ft tree on a section at the northern end of Lower Styx Road yesterday afternoon, setting the tree on fire. A branch fell off the tree and about an hour and a half later the tree split down the middle and the top half fell off.

The owner of the section, Mr J. Lancester, of Kaiapoi, and his wife were looking at the tree when it broke in half. They had to run to escape the falling branches. “I was standing in my lounge when there was this terrific bang like 10,000 blow-outs all at once,” said Mrs R. H. Ryman, of 1019 Lower Styx Road. “I looked out the window and saw a branch of the pine tree in the section next door fall off. “When it hit the ground clouds of dust rose. Wisps of smoke were coming from the trunk of the tree where the branch had broken off. ‘“The trunk of the tree burst into flames. A passing motorist stopped his car, ran over, climbed the tree and beat the flames out with a branch.” Mrs Ryman said. The lightning damaged the telephone in Mrs Ryman’s house, tripped the main switch on the switchboard and damaged the television set. The wires inside the telephone switch were melted.