A trucker escaped unharmed after lightning struck the roof of his truck and set it on fire while he was sleeping inside.
The incident took place on Thursday, August 13, at a rest area near Shelby, Iowa, close to the Nebraska border.
According to ABC 7, truck driver David Rodríguez was sleeping when he was awakened by an incredibly loud noise.
“It was a crazy loud bang. Let me explain it this way: it’s like if someone put you in a bathroom and set off a Disneyland firework,” Rodríguez said.
He says he went outside and saw that his truck had caught fire, which helped him figure out what had happened.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘Wow, another truck just hit me.’ And then, obviously, I woke up. There was lightning outside. I looked at the roof and it was on fire—just like that. That’s when it hit me: ‘Oh my God, I just got struck by lightning,’“ Rodríguez explained.
“I didn’t have time to grab the fire extinguisher. I just jumped out of the truck, knocked on another truck driver’s door, and he helped me call 911,” Rodríguez explained. “I tried to stay calm. Somehow, I was perfectly fine.”
Rodríguez says his truck was completely destroyed, so his company sent another driver to finish transporting the shipment of cars he had been hauling. Since then, he has returned home to Southern California.
