EVANSTON — Three young sisters from Evanston were struck by lightning on Friday afternoon, leaving two critically injured.

The three Thompson sisters, all under the age of 10, were with their parents on a camping and fishing trip at Lily Lake in the Uinta Mountains just south of the Wyoming border. According to law enforcement, the family has asked not to release their first names. The lake, about 32 miles or 45 minutes from Evanston, is a popular summer spot, and there were many other people there that day. 

Evanston Fire Captain Tim Overy said a fast-moving thunderstorm rolled in early Friday afternoon, prompting the girls’ father to direct his family away from the water to shelter under some small trees.

“From what we were told, the storm moved in at such a quick pace, and it was violent, very dramatic,” said Summit County Sheriff’s Lt. Andrew Wright. “... Witnesses that were up there described it as coming in [with] extremely violent lightning.” 

He said that some witnesses knew the lightning struck ground and heard people screaming, but Wright was unsure whether the screams were directly related to the girls’ injuries. 

Dispatch received the 911 call around five minutes after the lightning strike. Spotty cell phone service may have delayed the call, which was made by someone not related to the family. In addition, the call was first routed to a Wyoming call center at 1:47 p.m. before being transferred to Summit County at 1:49 p.m. 

The first officer on the scene, Uinta County Sheriff’s Deputy Calvin Robinson, said that it took him a little over 30 minutes to arrive. According to police scanner updates Friday afternoon, responders struggled to find the exact location as they headed through the rocky, winding roads on the mountain. Robinson said the paths in the area are basically rocky two-tracks, and although he got his truck through and the fire department used ATVs, other vehicles couldn’t navigate the road.

“Considering the location, the remote area in the forest, ... I guess the response time was pretty good, actually,” Wright said. 

Through the back-and-forth among dispatch, the caller and the responders, responders finally found the family on the south side of Lily Lake after using sirens to confirm they were en route. At one point, the dispatcher reported, the woman calling asked if she could start carrying one of the girls toward the approaching sirens.   

Responding vehicles included three ambulances (one from Summit County and two from Evanston) and two helicopters. 

In the meantime, the girls’ father immediately leapt into action to perform CPR on his two older daughters, aged 7 and 8, who had been knocked unconscious. According to the reports on the police scanner, one of the girls remained unconscious for most of the time responders were on their way, but Robinson said the father had managed to revive them by the time he got to the scene.

“When I arrived, the two older girls that were more injured were, I guess, semi-conscious,” Robinson said. “Their eyes were open, they were breathing, but not necessarily talking or interacting.”

Wright described the girls’ father as a hero.

Summit County responders arrived shortly after the Uinta County responders, Wright said, as some were looking for a missing hiker just 20 miles away. Normally, Summit County responders would be located in Park City, Utah, about 60 miles away from Lily Lake. 

The two older girls were in critical condition and were Life Flighted to a Salt Lake area hospital as soon as the helicopters could land on a hastily constructed landing area, which Overy said was set up within 50 feet of the strike. Reports over the police scanner indicated that one of the girls was suffering from “agonal breathing,” which is typically associated with cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest. 

Robinson said the older girls had welts or abrasions down their chests, and Wright said one of the responding Summit County deputies thought the lightning directly hit at least one of the girls.

“He describes her having marks that went through her back and came out her hip,” Wright said, although he said, without direct medical confirmation, he is uncertain whether she was hit directly or if the strike was transferred through a tree. 

The youngest girl was doing much better than her sisters and was taken to Evanston Regional Hospital by ambulance for evaluation. Initial reports indicated that she is 2 years old, but Robinson said he found she is 4 years old after talking with her. 

Wright was unable to confirm the girls’ current condition, saying the medical centers in the area do not release that information because of HIPAA regulations. However, the girls are expected to live. 

At least two GoFundMe pages have been set up to benefit the family, and other fundraisers are in the works as well. 

“I think the final thing that I would add is that we consider the father a hero in this situation,” Wright said. “... There’s absolutely nothing that that father could have done different.” 

He said the family was just enjoying time together on vacation, and it was simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“Our hearts go out to them,” Wright said. “... All of us that were involved in that day — it’s difficult for first responders to go to something like that when you have three victims, three young children.”

He again pointed to the father as doing everything he could — getting his children away from the water, trying to direct them to safety and rushing to action when his daughters were struck. 

“When they were struck by lightning, [he] saved his children’s lives,” Wright said, “and we were able to get medical help to them as quick as we could. We consider the father a hero, and, again, our hearts and prayers go out to the family.”

The National Weather Service does have some tips about avoiding lightning strikes, but emphasizes that no place outside is safe when there are thunderstorms. The NWS advises getting to shelter, “a substantial building with electricity or plumbing or an enclosed, metal-topped vehicle with windows up,” and remaining there for at least 30 minutes after last hearing thunder. 

If caught outside in a thunderstorm, people should avoid open or elevated areas, water, isolated trees, objects that conduct electricity and rocky overhangs or cliffs. The NWS also advises never lying flat on the ground or gathering in groups.