2 men working on crane struck by lightning

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Two men working a crane by a cellphone tower in Dinsmore were struck by lighting Wednesday afternoon, according to Jacksonville Fire-Rescue.

Rescuers were called to the 8800 block of Moncrief Dinsmore Road in Northwest Jacksonville just after 1 p.m.

A supervisor told Channel 4's Kumasi Aaron that the two men were doing work on the tower in the 8800 block of Moncrief Dinsmore Road when a "freak" lightning strike hit both men.

He said no one saw any lightning or heard thunder before the strike.

Both men were taken to Shands Jacksonville Medical Center and are expected to be OK and released soon.

The supervisor said one of the men was in a bucket hanging from the crane and that both had burns on their stomachs near their safety harness belts. 

They were both talking before they were transported.

Doctors at Shands say it's not just the burns on the outside that affect patients struck by lightning, but burns on the inside.

"The bones will sometimes conduct electricity in a bad way and will actually heat up internal muscles and organs and those kinds of things, and so it can cause a lot of internal burn injuries that you wouldn't expect," said Dr. David Caro, of Shands.

The supervisor said work on the tower resumed Wednesday and was targeted to be finished by nightfall.