Four adults treated after lightning hits near El Mirage school

El Mirage authorities reported that four adults were hospitalized following a lightning strike near El Mirage Elementary School on Friday morning. First responders arrived just after 8:30 a.m. to address the incident at the bus drop-off area.

The El Mirage Police Department confirmed that all four individuals were conscious upon arrival. They were transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Fire Captain Joseph Rivera stated that the group was not directly hit by the bolt.

Capt. Rivera explained that one woman in the group was holding an umbrella at the time. She reported feeling pain in both arms after the strike occurred in the vicinity. The timing coincided with the first wave of storms moving through the Phoenix region.

Carrie, a librarian working at the El Mirage Library across the street, witnessed the event while on her morning shift. She described the immediate noise and physical impact of the storm. “The lightning and the thunder were right on top of each other, so loud that it made me jump,” she said. “It felt like the building almost shook.”

Following the strike, Carrie noted that at least a dozen car alarms activated across the street. She added that heavy rain followed the initial shock. “It’s wild,” she said. “Then the rain just came down in buckets.”

Fast-moving storms began affecting the area around 8 a.m. Residents in nearby Peoria, Sun City, and Buckeye reported heavy rain and hail during the same window. The lightning strike at the elementary school occurred within this initial storm system.