
© STACY CORLESSA CHP helicopter that landed near Muir Trail Ranch to retrieve the body of Nicholas Torchia, who was struck by lightning.
A 37-year-old man was struck and killed by lightning near the John Muir Trail in Fresno County on Friday afternoon.
The man was identified as Nicholas Torchia of Fresno. The Fresno County Coroner's Office determined Torchia died by electrocution caused by lightning.
Torchia was struck by lightning near Muir Trail Ranch, a remote, roadless location east of Florence Lake, while he was on the Sallie Keyes Cutoff, a short segment between the John Muir Trail and Florence Lake Trail.
The Fresno County Sheriff's Office got a call about the incident around 2:20 p.m. Friday and Torchia's body was recovered around 6 p.m. once a California Highway Patrol helicopter was able to fly in during a break in the storm, sheriff's spokesman Tony Botti said.
"Torchia took cover by leaning against a tree," Botti said, "a tree which was then struck by a lightning bolt. Torchia fell to the ground. His fellow hikers came to check on him and he told them he didn't feel well and then became unconscious. A doctor and a nurse who were on the trail tended to Torchia by administering CPR for three hours. Despite their great efforts, he ultimately passed away."
Comment: In just the last year or so there seems to have been a significant uptick in the number and severity of landslides, rockfalls and sinkholes:
- Four dead and 80 still missing after torrential rains triggered a devastating landslide in Atami, Japan - UPDATE
- Himalayan glacier bursts in India causing flash flooding & destroying dam, 150 feared dead
- Huge landslide at peat bog in Donegal, Ireland
- Huge landslide hits residential area after large amounts of precipitation in southern Norway, 10 hurt, 26 unaccounted for
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