Some victims of a lightning strike were knocked unconscious for as long as five minutes Sunday when on Sunday.
Thirteen people were shocked by the lightning, Clear Creek County Sheriff Rick Albers said on Monday, and a dog died in the incident.
“I think it was one strike and it just fragmented through the rocks, so I don’t know any were actually hit. They did get shocked,” Albers said.
Several were knocked out, with one victim unconscious for five minutes and others for about one minute, Albers said.
On Facebook, a man named Jonathan Tyler Hardman said he and his dog, Rambo, a German Shepherd, were hit by the lightning. Rambo died, he wrote.
“My best friend I could have ever asked for. I love you and I’ll miss you Rambo. I’m glad my friends are alive and still here,” Hardman posted on the social media site.
Hardman couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.
Pictures on the page show Hardman holding a piece of paper with the words “Mt. Bierstadt, 14,060 feet, June 28, 2015.”
Several other pictures show Hardman in a hospital bed, his forehead and nose crusted with dried blood.
“Some had face lacerations but all hiked out by themselves,” Albers said. “Our rescue team met them about half a mile into the trail into the mountain area.”
The lightning struck at about 11:30 a.m., said Undersheriff Bruce Snelling. Initial reports said up to 16 people were injured and one dog was killed. All hikers were accounted for and off the mountain by 5 p.m.
Emergency medical personnel transported eight adults from the trailhead, and three were taken to local hospitals.
As many as 100 people may have been on the mountain when the accident happened, Snelling said. “It is a popular destination because it is one of the fourteeners you can walk.”
The sheriff’s office, Alpine Rescue Team, Summit County Search and Rescue and other emergency units were involved in the evacuation.
Tom McGhee: 303-954-1671, tmcghee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/dpmcghee
