Bubbles From the Asphalt': Florida Deputy Escapes Injury When Lightning Strikes Just Outside His Truck

 Ron Brackett

Published: August 7, 2020

Lightning struck the ground right beside Martin County Sheriff's Deputy John Barca's truck on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2020, in Palm City, Florida.

A Florida deputy was extremely grateful he hesitated to leave his truck seconds before a bolt of lightning struck the ground 4 feet away.

"All in one big, flash, boom, bang and then it started raining asphalt on my truck and I'm like, 'What the heck just happened?'" Martin County Sheriff's Deputy John Barca told WPTV.

Barca, a detective with the Sheriff's Office's Agricultural Environmental Crimes Unit, said he was about to get out of the truck in Palm City on Wednesday when he paused for a couple of seconds.

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The lightning struck the asphalt, burned the truck's tires and disabled the vehicle, according to a tweet from the Sheriff's Office.

Barca, who wasn't injured, said water around the truck was bubbling when he got out.

"It was still warm, and when I got out, you could still see the bubbles from the asphalt where the water and moisture was still underneath," he told WPTV.

"I guess the man upstairs was truly watching me – that couple of seconds of hesitation literally saved my life," Barca said. "If I stepped out of the truck, I wouldn't be here. There's no doubt."

Despite a common belief, rubber tires on a vehicle don't protect it from lightning. The voltage in a bolt of lightning is much too powerful to be stopped by tires, writes Christopher Baird, a physicist at West Texas A&M University.

Lightning can destroy a vehicle's tires, wreck its electrical system, damage the antenna and blow out the rear windshield if it gets into those little wires that defrost the back glass, according to the National Weather Service.

There is some good news. If you're inside the metal frame of the car with the windows up, you're most likely safe, the NWS said, but you definitely don't want to be driving if all that other bad stuff happens.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.