Many people are planning weekend hikes to see the beautiful fall colors. After two hunters were killed by lightning in southern Colorado, you may have questions and concerns.
The bodies of Andrew Porter of Asheville, North Carolina, and Ian Stasko of Salt Lake City, Utah, both 25 years old, were found a couple miles away from a trailhead in Conejos County on Sept. 18. The Conejos County coroner told Denver7 the men died due to a lightning strike that hit a nearby tree.
Denver7 anchor Shannon Ogden spoke with Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) about what happened and how people stuck in a storm, like these two men, can protect themselves.
Southern Colorado
Hunters in Colorado wilderness died after lightning strike, coroner says
"I don't know if there was anything they could've done differently," said CPW spokesperson Kara Van Hoose. "It sounds like from testimony that we've heard from other people — it sounds like they were heading back to the car and only a few miles away from their car. And when a storm rolls through, you're thinking, 'Let's just get to shelter.'"
When a storm approaches, CPW warns to seek shelter immediately. But sometimes that is not an option.
"You don't want to be the tallest thing in the landscape," Van Hoose said. "So, if you're in flat landscape or plane or prairie, you're probably going to stick out. In that case, you're going to want to get as low as you can, but don't really make yourself larger on the ground, if that makes sense. A lot of people will think, 'I want to get as flat as possible. I'm just going to lay on the ground.' But really, you're increasing the surface that you're touching. So, if lightning does strike, you have a greater chance of being hit that way."
Denver7 | Weather
Conejos County tragedy highlights Colorado’s high lightning danger
The National Weather Service offers the following tips to reduce your risk of lightning strike if you are outdoors and there is no shelter.
- Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
- Never lie flat on the ground
- Never shelter under an isolated tree
- Never use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
- Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
- Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)
In an average year, lightning strikes the ground in Colorado about 500,000 times, the National Weather Service said. Based on NWS data since 1980, lightning kills two people and injures 12 in Colorado each year.
