Date: Fri 27-Sep-1996

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

Sandy-Hook-lightning-Benlak

Full Text:

with photo : Lightning Rings Up Sandy Hook Man

B Y S TEVE B IGHAM

Joe Benlak is a carpet installer, but he was the one who was floored Sunday

night after he was zapped by lightning while using his telephone.

Except for a headache and a slight ringing in his ears, the Zoar Road resident

said he was feeling fine by early this week.

Mr Benlak, 50, said he had just returned home from a rainy day at the Big E in

Springfield, Mass. when he picked up his phone to call a friend. The next

thing he knew there was a loud roar, jolting his head and throwing him across.

The lightning apparently struck a telephone pole outside his house and sent a

charge through the line.

"It happened so fast. It was like `boom.' It happened that quick," said Mr

Benlak, who lives alone. "It was like someone took a 12-gauge shotgun, put it

in my ear, and fired without the bullets, then hit me over the head with a

sledge hammer. My teeth were so sore afterwards."

Mr Benlak, who awoke to find himself lying on the floor, said he's not sure

how long he was out, but it was later determined that he called police about

15-20 minutes after the lightning hit.

The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded to the scene soon afterwards

and the seven-year Newtown resident was transported to Danbury Hospital where

he underwent EKG testing to make sure his heart was still up to speed. All was

fine.

"They said I was very lucky, but I couldn't sleep all night," Mr Benlak said.

Surprisingly, his telephone remains in working order, but the answering

machine and television do not work. Several other answering machines in homes

along Zoar Road are also on the fritz. One resident even called the fire

department to report her answering machine had begun smoking soon after the

lightning struck the area.

According to a spokesperson at Southern New England Telephone, there is very

little electricity running through a grounded telephone wire. However, because

the telephone and the answering machine at Mr Benlak's house were all part of

the same system, there may have been more electricity involved.

SNET reminds its customers to stay off the phone in the during thunderstorms.

The Lake Zoar area of town, just off Route 34, bore the brunt of Sunday's

thunderstorm as several lightning strikes were seen in the area. The Sandy

Hook Volunteer Fire Department was called to Zoar Road about 40 minutes before

the telephone incident after someone reported seeing a glow and a flash across

the street on Lone Oak Road. Chief Bill Halstead said the area was checked out

and all appeared ok.

Mr Benlak, who took the alarming experience lightheartedly, said Sunday's

incident wasn't his first brush with death.

"I almost died in Maine as a kid," he explained. "I was on a fishing boat and

almost drowned." He shrugged off this latest reminder of his mortality with a

smile, saying "I'm not ready to go, yet."