School recovers after lightning strike

Published: Updated:

LEE COUNTY, Fla. – All classes at Sonshine Christian Academy on Palm Beach Blvd. will resume Thursday, after four were cancelled Wednesday because of a lightning strike.

Around 4pm Tuesday a bolt of lightning came within feet of striking a classroom.

“There was a lot of lighting going on at the time, but there was one that just sounded like it was outside the door, I mean it was phenomenal,” school administrator Bob Calvert told WINK News.

The bolt went straight through the bottom panel of the roof on the right side of the building.

“It had actually hit the security light and caused some smoke and smeltering to start in the attic, and got to be considerable smoke coming out of the attic,” said Calvert. “If it would’ve happened at nighttime, the whole thing would’ve burnt down probably.”

Calvert says school had ended for the day so thankfully the nearby classrooms were empty. Firefighters got the smoke under control quickly, and there was minimal damage.

However lessons were cancelled Wednesday in the four classrooms closest to the strike, as staff did their best to rid the rooms of the strong smell left behind.

“Like a campfire smoky smell. Today we’re just airing everything out making sure there’s no odor tomorrow getting everything cleaned up and just back to normal,” said kindergarten teacher Kayla Larocque.

“Everything’s going to be repaired today and all classes will be in session tomorrow (Thursday),” said Calvert.

 

Calvert says the building was inspected Tuesday evening and there was no significant electrical or structural damage.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.