Four adults were hospitalized Friday morning after lightning struck near a school bus drop-off at El Mirage Elementary School, sending fast-moving storms through the West Valley just as families were dropping kids off for class. Police said all four were conscious when they were taken for treatment, and no children were hurt.
According to FOX 10 Phoenix, the victims were at the bus drop-off when the strike happened near Thunderbird Road and El Mirage Road, an area confirmed by Arizona's Family, which reported that first responders were called to the scene as fast-moving storms began passing through the West Valley. El Mirage Fire Captain Joseph Rivera told the outlet that one woman had been holding an umbrella when lightning struck nearby and later reported pain in both arms. Rivera said people at the scene were not directly struck by the lightning itself.
Conflicting Details on Timing
Exactly when the call came in remains a bit muddled across local reports. El Mirage police told FOX 10 Phoenix they were called to the school just after 8:30 a.m., while ABC15 reported police were first called to the bus drop-off around 8:40 a.m. for reports of a lightning strike. A Spanish-language account from Telemundo Arizona placed the first emergency call shortly after 8:39 a.m. What is consistent across every report is that all four adults were conscious and alert when they were transported.
ABC15's report noted that the extent of the four adults' injuries was not yet known. Telemundo Arizona similarly reported that the four were believed not to have life-threatening injuries at the time of transport, though their current condition was unknown as of that report. No identities, ages, or hospital destinations have been released for the four adults, and Captain Rivera said none of them was directly struck by lightning.
More Storms Expected Through the Weekend
The lightning strike came amid a broader stretch of unsettled weather moving through metro Phoenix. ABC15 reported that more storms were likely from late morning into early evening Friday, with a few capable of turning strong to severe, mainly across southern and central Arizona, with damaging winds and hail identified as the main threats through early evening. Arizona's Family reported that viewers had already reported hail and heavy rain in Peoria, Sun City and Buckeye as the first round of storms moved through.
Arizona's Family also reported that First Alert Weather Days had been issued for Friday, Saturday and Sunday due to high chances of rain and thunderstorms. The National Weather Service described a longer-duration, more widespread rain event shaping up for Saturday night through Sunday, with generally light to moderate rain rates possible and the chance of some embedded lightning, even though overall thunderstorm potential was expected to be low.
Not the First Lightning Scare in the Area
El Mirage has seen lightning incidents before. In August 2018, two 13-year-old boys were struck by lightning at a park in the city during a monsoon storm, according to azcentral.com, with the El Mirage Fire Department responding and taking the boys to the hospital. More recently, lightning struck the gym at Verrado Heritage Elementary in Buckeye during morning storms on Sept. 24, prompting cleanup efforts. Similar scares have played out elsewhere, too — in 2018, three middle school students in Round Lake Heights, Illinois, were hospitalized after lightning struck near their school bus stop, though they were reported to be alert, communicative and in stable condition, per the Chicago Tribune.
