Dashcam video shows Fort Worth electrician’s work truck struck by lightning
FORT WORTH, Texas - A North Texas electrician says he heard a loud boom, saw sparks and then his truck broke down when it was struck by lightning last week.
The incident was caught on dash camera footage by another driver.
Garrett Beck is a Fort Worth-based electrician. But nothing from his experience prepared him for what happened.
"I was just looking around in my mirrors trying to figure out what I got hit by before it came out of the sky," he recalled.
Last week, stormy weather hit North Texas.
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Nobody was home when it happened, but a grandmother and her family — including six grandchildren who live there — are devastated.
The 27-year-old was on the job driving on Interstate 35 near Basswood Boulevard when lightning hit his work truck.
"I just heard a loud boom. I could see sparks shoot off our ladder rack. Our windshield went white for a second," he recalled. "Our honk started blaring, and the windshield washer fluid ran until it was empty."
Beck’s co-worker was in the passenger seat.
While on their lunch break, Beck saw the dashcam video posted by Cody Currens on social media, capturing the moment the lightning touched the truck.
The lightning bolt left a handful of dents on the ladder rack.
"Right here is a pretty good one. And then on the other corner," said Beck. "All the little ones that have little block ring soot around them."
The truck eventually broke down on the side of the interstate. It remains out of commission.
Beck and his colleague finished their shift that day. Luckily, neither were injured.
"I wish it was on a lottery ticket and not getting struck by lightning," he said.
The lifetime odds of being struck by lightning are only 1 in 15,000, according to the National Weather Service. In any given year, the odds increase to about 1 in 1.2 million.
The odds of winning the Texas lottery are roughly 1 in 300 million.