8 Girls, Coach Injured in Tustin Lightning Strike

Eight members of a girls’ softball team and an adult coach were injured in a Tustin schoolyard Saturday when lightning--triggered by a fast-moving storm that raked the Southland--struck a tree under which they had sought refuge from the rain.

The girls, ranging in age from 8 to 10, and the coach were taken to four Orange County hospitals, where seven of the girls were hospitalized for burns and shock; two were reported in serious condition and five in stable condition. The eighth girl and assistant coach Steve Nicolai were treated for minor injuries and released.

Witnesses said a lightning bolt struck the top of the 50-foot oak tree and traveled down the trunk to the ground where the eight girls, Nicolai and a player’s mother, Carrie Maggard Leach, were standing. The force of the bolt threw the girls to the ground, knocking the breath from them and burning their hands and feet to varying degrees.

Witnesses said the girls appeared lifeless and began turning blue. They “were lying all over the place . . . and they all looked like they were dead. I had never seen anything like it,” said Leach, whose hair was singed by the lightning.

Parents and bystanders, including head coach John Bates, administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation to some of the girls, said Bart Beckman, who is president of the Tustin Bobby Sox League, and who, along with several parents, witnessed the incident.

By the time paramedics arrived about five minutes later, most of the injured had been revived, county fire officials said.

The incident occurred at 11:30 a.m. on a baseball field on the grounds of the Edgewood School, a private school in the 1800 block of Lassen Drive in Tustin.

According to parents and Orange County fire officials, the injured girls, members of the Waves team, were warming up before their game when a light rain began to fall. The team members were instructed by Bates to stand under a nearby tree, witnesses said.

Two team members, along with the few spectators present, sought shelter by running under other nearby trees or by raising umbrellas. But eight girls, Nicolai and Leach were standing beneath the oak when a lightning bolt hit the tree.

Decision Criticized

Paramedic Capt. Jack Wallace of the Orange County Fire Department criticized Bates’ decision to send the team under a tree, saying that no such order should have been given when there was thunder and lightning. An umbrella carried by one of the girls, Wallace added, could have acted as a conductor for the lightning.

However, Bates, whose daughter was among those injured by the electrical bolt, defended his action and said he saw no lightning and heard no thunder. Other witnesses contradicted him, however. Beckman said lightning had been spotted “way off” in the distance about 10 minutes before the rain started.

The injured girls were identified as:

Beth Carillo and Katie Maggard, listed in serious condition at Chapman General Hospital in Orange, and Kaylee Whitfield, who was listed in stable condition at Chapman; Julie Throckmorton, Theresa Farnum and Wendy Meyers, all listed in stable condition at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, and Tiffany Thompson, who was listed in good condition at Childrens Hospital of Orange County in Orange.

The head coach’s daughter, Carrie Bates, was treated for minor burns at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange and later released.

Assistant coach Nicolai, who underwent heart surgery earlier this year, was treated for chest pains at St. Joseph and later released.

Accidents, Power Outages

Elsewhere in the Southland, the latest storm triggered a rash of minor auto accidents, scattered power outages and minor flooding. It struck after only one day of sunshine had eased a week of rainy days.

By mid-day, heavy rain was falling in some mountains areas. Mt. Wilson received 2 inches of snow in six hours, while Interstate 5 received a dusting of snow between Newhall and Gorman. Part of the Angeles Crest Highway was closed to all vehicles without chains.

Hail the size of marbles pelted Van Nuys, Sherman Oaks and Malibu, while sleet made some streets in the Antelope Valley slippery. Heavy rain in the San Bernardino National Forest caused minor flooding in some streams.

The thunderstorm forced an early end Saturday to the 38th annual Navy Relief Air Show at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station near Irvine, but the two-day show is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. today.

The Southland is expected to get a reprieve today, as the band of rain moves on to Arizona and New Mexico. Today should be mostly sunny and warmer, with temperatures reaching the upper 60s or low 70s.

The dreary weather should stay away for awhile but clouds will return on Thursday, said Dan Bowman, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times. Rain is possible on Friday if the storm systems, which are expected to sweep across Northern California this week, head south.

Despite Los Angeles’ recent wet weather, the amount of rain so far this year is still below normal. From July, 1987, to early Saturday, Los Angeles had received 11.50 inches compared to the average of 14.42 inches. Last year, an unusually dry one, Los Angeles had only 7.61 inches by this time.

Times staff writer Andrea Ford contributed to this story.