Elderly Man Struck, Killed By Lightning While Picking Blueberries

June 14, 2014

A elderly man was struck and killed by lightning while picking blueberries near Allentown south of Jay Friday morning.

James Donald McDaniel, age 71 of Milton was found in a field at the Blue Basket Farms and transported to Santa Rosa Medical Center where he was pronounced deceased.

The Allentown Volunteer Fire Department, Santa Rosa EMS and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office were called to the blueberry patch at 8651 Highway 89 about 9:42 a.m.  The clerk and her son were loading supplies when they saw the lightning strike. They jumped into their car to escape the storm and then discovered McDaniel down in the field a few minutes later.

The point of the impact of the lightning bolt was located two rows of blueberries north of where McDaniel’s vehicle was parked.

McDaniel was the sixth person killed by lightning this year in the United States, the fourth in Florida.

Comments

One Response to “Elderly Man Struck, Killed By Lightning While Picking Blueberries”

  1. Charlotte on June 14th, 2014 8:43 pm

    So sad. My boyfriend, that is not from this area, cannot get it through his head that when it’s lightning, get inside. We had a Pine tree just about fifty feet from our house get hit. Ran all the way down this 100 ft. tree, and ran into the ground another twenty or thirty feet, creating an eight inch deep ditch. My prayers for this family. People, when you hear thunder, please get somewhere safe.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News