News Flash! FBPD Hit by Lightning!

Thursday December 9th 2015. By Derek Hoyle

Sometime around a quarter past 2 PM, somewhere in Fort Bragg was hit with a bolt of lightning and the resultant Thunder was LOUD to say the least.

I’ve been within 50 feet of lightning strikes while bivouacked at 11,000 feet during a severe storm on Mt. Shasta 30 years ago, and it was that loud, so I knew it hit within the City somewhere.

So I waited a few minutes for the worst of the lightening to diminish, and went outside to see if any of the Bainbridge Park tennis court lights had been hit, since they stick way up in the air, but all was fine at the Park, so I turned on my radio scanner because I figured some damage must have come from it.

And a few minutes later I heard one of our Officers call County Dispatch to tell them that the Fort Bragg Police Department phone system was “down” until further notice, and dispatch came right back with info that a witness saw lightning strike the FBPD communications antenna tower.

The Officer continued that one of the antennas is broken and just barely hanging on the tower, and asked dispatch to call Fisher Wireless to come repair it.