Trucker unscathed after lightning strike set his truck on fire

A truck driver is unhurt after a bolt of lightning hit the roof of his truck and set it on fire while he slept inside. 

The incident happened on Thursday, August 13th at a rest stop near Shelby, Iowa along the border with Nebraska. 

According to ABC 7, truck driver David Rodriguez was asleep when he was woken up by an incredibly loud noise. 

“It was just a crazy bang. I mean, the way I can explain it, it’s like if I put you in a bathroom and I set off a Disneyland firework,” Rodriguez said.

He says he then went outside to find his truck had caught fire, which helped him to put the pieces together about what happened. 

“First thought was, ‘Oh, I just got hit by another semi-truck.’ And then, obviously, I woke up. There’s lightning outside. I look at the roof, and it’s on fire, like instantly. Then it clicked, like, ‘Oh my God, I just got struck by lightning,'” Rodriguez said.

“I didn’t have time to get the fire extinguisher. I just hopped out of the truck, knocked on another trucker’s door, and he helped me call 911,” Rodriguez said. “I tried to stay calm. I was perfectly fine, somehow.”

Rodriguez says that his truck was a total loss, so his company sent another driver to finish hauling the load of cars he was carrying. He has since headed back home to Southern California.