'Unbelievable': Christiana lifeguard struck by lightning, sent to hospital Monday

A lightning strike at the Cavalier Country Club Apartments in Christiana sent a lifeguard to the hospital and triggered fire alarms at a nearby apartment building late Monday afternoon, according to eyewitnesses and emergency responders.

The lifeguard's name and condition were not immediately available but he was conscious as paramedics loaded him into an ambulance.

The lightning hit about 4:36 p.m. during a strong but short-lived downpour that formed over central New Castle County and dissipated in about a half hour, according to the  National Weather Service.

Cavalier resident Clinton Robertson said he was watching the storm from his apartment window when he saw the lighting come down near a tree between the apartment complex's pool and Building 7C.

"It looked like it hit the tree and then spread out in a bunch of different directions," the 41-year-old said. "The lifeguard was standing by the pool when it came down and then he ran into the bathroom. It was unbelievable."

Paramedics said they found the man inside the small brick building next to the pool that houses a bathroom and a storage closet. 

"He says he got hit and seems pretty shaken up," a firefighter said. "The ambulance is going to take him to the hospital but it looks like he'll be okay."

It was unclear whether the lifeguard or a bystander called 911 about 4:41 p.m. Robertson said several children who had been swimming there earlier in the afternoon left once the rain began.

The gate to the pool was left unlocked and an open umbrella lay on the ground between the pool and the storage closet. A nearby sign indicated Labor Day was the last day of operation for the Cavalier Country Club Apartments pool off Golf View Drive.

No one answered the phone at the emergency contact number listed outside the complex's sales office.

The same lightning bolt that reportedly hit the lifeguard also set off fire alarms in apartment buildings near the pool.

"I didn't see it come down but I could definitely sense something weird in my living room," said Amol Polke, a 39-year old resident of the ground floor apartment closest to the tree. "I could feel it and then we saw sparks in the vents. It was very strange."

Firefighters with the Christiana Fire Co. inspected the apartment building where Polke lives and two other buildings nearby but found no evidence of fire.

"There was definitely lighting in the very near vicinity at that time," said Chad Shafer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"The storm was a very small cell that developed right there and then just sat there because there was no wind," he said. "It just dumped all its rain in that general location and then disappeared."

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Contact reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.