Lightning strike kills 2 at park
Fatalities occurred in Westmoreland County
An 18-year-old man and woman were killed by a lightning strike Thursday afternoon at a park in Westmoreland County.
The two were believed to be the first victims of lightning strikes in the region since 2001, according to records kept by the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.
The Westmoreland County Coroner identified the victims as Brendan A. McGowan, of North Huntingdon, and Kaitlyn E. Rosensteel, of Donora.
The strike occurred as a thunderstorm rolled through Mammoth Park in Mount Pleasant Township about 4 p.m.
The victims were fishing, according to the coroner’s office, when witnesses reported hearing a loud crack and seeing a flash of light nearby. Witnesses saw a large splintered tree and found the victims below it, the coroner’s office said.
The victim’s injuries were consistent with being struck by lightning, though the coroner’s office has not ruled on a cause or manner of death. Autopsies will be performed Friday.
Mammoth Park officials said the victims were on an island in the park’s lake. Westmoreland County park police officers were
investigating.
They could not be reached for comment later Thursday.
In an odd coincidence, 35 years ago to the day — June 13, 1984 — three people were struck by lightning in incidents in Westmoreland and Beaver counties, and one of them later died.
Gary Miller, 15, was fishing at Robert Shaw Acres Golf Course in Hempfield when he and a friend, 15-year-old Kevin Kimmel, were struck.
Gary died two days later at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. Kevin was treated at Westmoreland Hospital for leg burns.
That same day, Glenn Paige, 14, of Beaver Falls, was struck while sitting with his bicycle under a tree.
He was taken to the Medical Center of Beaver County in Brighton in critical condition, with burns to his forehead and neck as well as kidney injuries.
The lightning strike occurred during a typical latespring thunderstorm, according to the weather service.
“It was a generic-looking thunderstorm,” said Matthew Kramar, a weather service meteorologist.
“Any thunderstorm can be very dangerous because of lightning. It doesn’t have to be a severe thunderstorm,” he said.
Mr. Kramar said the weather service keeps records of when lightning strikes cause fatalities, injuries or property damage. The records go back to 1950, but he said they are more accurate after 1996.
The last lightning-related fatality in the Greater Pittsburgh area, according to the records, was an adult Boy Scout leader, Jack Magyar, 56, of Eighty Four, who was struck in Twin Echo Park in Ligonier in 2001.
Last August, a 45-yearold man was hospitalized in critical condition after being struck by lightning in Schenley Park.
Scanning weather service records for the region, Mr. Kramar said it was unusual for a direct lightning strike to cause a fatality in the region.
Mammoth Park, at more than 400 acres, boasts a variety of amenities, including a ball field complex, tennis courts and a 96-foot slide on the side of a hill.
Nonmotorized kayak and canoes are allowed on the 24-acre Mammoth Lake, which is stocked for fishing. The lake also is a stopover for migrating waterfowl.
Harry Ramsay said he frequently goes fishing at the lake.
He said he took shelter beneath a bridge for about 40 minutes when a storm passed over the park earlier Thursday.
The storm that caused the lightning that struck the two victims was only about 15 minutes in duration, he said.