Three girls were seriously injured when lightning struck them near Lily Lake in Summit County on Friday afternoon, authorities said.
The sisters — ages 2, 7 and 8 — were hit about 1:30 p.m., though a call for help didn’t reach Summit County emergency responders until nearly a half hour later due to the spotty cell service in the area, Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright said.
Two of the girls were in critical condition and being flown by helicopter to a hospital. A third, who was in fair to good condition, was being taken by ambulance, Wright said.
The lake is a popular camping destination in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest, located off State Route 150 near the Wyoming border. Wright said their family of five, from Evanston, Wyo., was on a fishing and camping trip at the lake and was fishing along the shore when ”a storm rolled in very quickly.”
As soon as the lightning started striking, the girls’ father told them to move to a group of trees and get down, Wright said. That’s where the lightning struck, leaving the 7- and 8-year-old unconscious.
The father performed CPR and revived both girls, Wright said. The girls were then flown by medical helicopter in critical condition to a Salt Lake City area hospital, where they were receiving care Friday night.
The 2-year-old girl was in fair condition and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Wyoming, the closest one to where the strike occurred.
Wright said the emergency call was first routed to a 911 center in Wyoming, then back to Summit County, which delayed the response. However, several emergency personnel were already stationed about 20 miles away, he said, as they had been searching for missing hiker Melvin Heaps near Crystal Lake the last several days.