Re: OT / Lightning Rods

Posted by Hal/WA on July 24, 2007 at 20:47:21 from (66.45.175.118):

In Reply to: OT / Lightning Rods posted by Zapped on July 23, 2007 at 21:16:57:

I would sure reinstall the system. Some prior owner evidently thought it was needed. If you are in an area where the house is the highest object around, I think it would be great insurance. Lightning rods also look appropriate on older buildings.

When I was about 12, I spent a couple of weeks visiting my cousins on their farm on the plains of Eastern Montana. I noticed that all their buildings had lightning rods, but didn't think too much about it. One night we had a tremendous lightning storm that was a real show. The next morning, their herd of cows was out, so we rounded them up and put them back in and began looking for where they had got out. On top of a small hill, we found where apparently lightning had struck the barb wire fence. One steel T post was completely gone, as was about 40 or 50 feet of wire. The barb wire looked like it had been cut off with a cutting torch and there was some slag on the ground. Probably if it hadn't rained during the storm, there would have been a grass fire. My cousins and I spent the rest of the morning fixing the fence. They said that they had seen the same thing happen before, but I was pretty impressed.

Luckily, they didn't lose any stock. About 10 years later, my Dad lost 7 head of cows to lightning. They were bedded down under a pine tree that obviously got hit by lightning in a storm. We didn't find them until the next day when my Dad counted the cattle and went looking for the missing ones. Our cattle operation sure didn't make any money that year! At least we didn't have to pay to have the carcasses hauled away--the rendering company came and picked them up for free.

Lightning is something to be concerned with. Since you already have the system, it shouldn't be too much work to put it back up after reroofing. Good luck!

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