Lightning killed a Colorado rancher and 34 heads of farm animals over the weekend, he said Sunday.
Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding his farm animals from a trailer when he crashed and died at the scene despite rescue efforts, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office said.
The lightning struck a giant grass on the outskirts of the town of Rand, about 129 miles northwest of Denver, said George Crocket, the county coroner.
The impact also knocked down about 100 heads of farm animals piled up around the hay-laden trailer, Crocket said. “All of them stood up, all 34 of them,” he said.
Morgan and his wife were nearby but survived the explosion, Crocket said.
The incident happened on a small, tight-knit network where almost everyone knows each other, Crockett said.
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Bedayn is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover little-publicized topics.
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