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Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Yahoo

35 minutes ago

Yahoo

Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Folk on the Rocks says its emergency response plan "worked great" after a thunderstorm forced the Yellowknife music festival to shut down early last Friday – and it has followed up with a local performer who had a scary experience with lightning. "Lightning hit the tent and I got shocked pretty good," Benji Staker, who perfomes as Hughes, told CBC News on Saturday. The annual three-day outdoor festival kicked off Friday with its Warm the Rocks event in the beer gardens at the Folk on the Rocks site. However, after the thunderstorm started, organizers made the decision to evacuate the site at around 8:30 p.m. Straker said he and his wife and two others had sought refuge from the storm under a tent with sound equipment when it happened. He'd been leaning against a metal equipment box at the time, and said it felt like someone punched him in the head and kicked him in the butt. "I felt fine right away," he said. "I think everybody else was kind of more concerned." Straker said many people pulled him aside at the festival to ask him what happened and if he was OK. "I'm having fun with it," he said. "They're wondering why I'm not stuttering and why I don't have, like, a white stripe on my head or, like, spider veins." "It's obviously nobody's fault. Maybe ours, for getting under a metal frame tent. But whatever, it is what it is." Teresa Horosko, the festival's executive director, said in an interview Thursday that the festival has spoken with Straker about what happened. "The static charge in the air when lightning is present is intense and it is possible to feel some shocks or some effects from that static charge," she said. "We've discussed that with him and also have opened up that conversation for anybody else who has been on site who may have felt some static charge." Asked whether the festival's emergency response plan worked, given what happened, Horosko said it's something she's been asking herself too. "Did we do enough, and quickly enough? And I think, ultimately, yes." Horosko said the festival had been monitoring the storm for a while and an evacuation didn't seem necessary at first. But then the wind changed, a low pressure system moved in, and things started to move quickly. "I think back on that moment a lot. If I had done things a little bit different … would we not have had those instances? And I can't guarantee that those wouldn't have happened. Like static charge in the air is a big thing when there is an electrical storm. And I think ultimately we made the right choice when we made that choice." Horosko said staff and volunteers did an "incredible job" clearing the site, and she's thankful to the audience for paying attention and being co-operative. Though she's satisfied with how the emergency response plan worked, she does hope to make some updates to it. "It was our first time doing an evacuation because of a thunderstorm. So going to edit that a little bit and also have a more detailed re-opening plan." The festival has described shutting down early on Friday as a "devastating financial loss." Horosko said the 19+ event brings in about a third of the festival's sales – through drinks at the beer garden and merchandise. Though attendance on Saturday was "big," the cool Sunday forecast meant fewer attendees. "We aren't out of the woods yet," said Horosko. She said the festival is planning some fundraising activities in the future.

Yahoo

an hour ago

Yahoo

Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Folk on the Rocks says its emergency response plan "worked great" after a thunderstorm forced the Yellowknife music festival to shut down early last Friday – and it has followed up with a local performer who had a scary experience with lightning. "Lightning hit the tent and I got shocked pretty good," Benji Staker, who perfomes as Hughes, told CBC News on Saturday. The annual three-day outdoor festival kicked off Friday with its Warm the Rocks event in the beer gardens at the Folk on the Rocks site. However, after the thunderstorm started, organizers made the decision to evacuate the site at around 8:30 p.m. Straker said he and his wife and two others had sought refuge from the storm under a tent with sound equipment when it happened. He'd been leaning against a metal equipment box at the time, and said it felt like someone punched him in the head and kicked him in the butt. "I felt fine right away," he said. "I think everybody else was kind of more concerned." Straker said many people pulled him aside at the festival to ask him what happened and if he was OK. "I'm having fun with it," he said. "They're wondering why I'm not stuttering and why I don't have, like, a white stripe on my head or, like, spider veins." "It's obviously nobody's fault. Maybe ours, for getting under a metal frame tent. But whatever, it is what it is." Teresa Horosko, the festival's executive director, said in an interview Thursday that the festival has spoken with Straker about what happened. "The static charge in the air when lightning is present is intense and it is possible to feel some shocks or some effects from that static charge," she said. "We've discussed that with him and also have opened up that conversation for anybody else who has been on site who may have felt some static charge." Asked whether the festival's emergency response plan worked, given what happened, Horosko said it's something she's been asking herself too. "Did we do enough, and quickly enough? And I think, ultimately, yes." Horosko said the festival had been monitoring the storm for a while and an evacuation didn't seem necessary at first. But then the wind changed, a low pressure system moved in, and things started to move quickly. "I think back on that moment a lot. If I had done things a little bit different … would we not have had those instances? And I can't guarantee that those wouldn't have happened. Like static charge in the air is a big thing when there is an electrical storm. And I think ultimately we made the right choice when we made that choice." Horosko said staff and volunteers did an "incredible job" clearing the site, and she's thankful to the audience for paying attention and being co-operative. Though she's satisfied with how the emergency response plan worked, she does hope to make some updates to it. "It was our first time doing an evacuation because of a thunderstorm. So going to edit that a little bit and also have a more detailed re-opening plan." The festival has described shutting down early on Friday as a "devastating financial loss." Horosko said the 19+ event brings in about a third of the festival's sales – through drinks at the beer garden and merchandise. Though attendance on Saturday was "big," the cool Sunday forecast meant fewer attendees. "We aren't out of the woods yet," said Horosko. She said the festival is planning some fundraising activities in the future.

Minnesotans feel effects of Canadian wildfires as skies fill with smoke

CBS News

2 hours ago

CBS News

Minnesotans feel effects of Canadian wildfires as skies fill with smoke

As wildfires rage in Canada, officials there are warning of major challenges for crews trying to contain them. The worst of the flames are in the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, just to the northwest of Minnesota "A lot of the prairies within Canada, the prairie provinces, entered the fire season already starting out in a drought, and so there wasn't a lot of moisture throughout the winter," said Alex Jones a communications manager at the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center. Compared to two years ago, when nearly 5,000 wildfires raged, burning some 27 million acres, the caseload and damage is about half. Roughly 3,467 fires are burning across 14 million acres in 2025, though officials say it's the second worst wildfire season in the country's history. "We've requested support from our international partners who have responded, which we're super super thankful for, but sometimes simply looking at Canada's land mass, the forested region of Canada, where our road networks extends can give a little perspective on why it's so hard to address these northern fires," said Jones. One of the major challenges is that fires are well out of reach of conventional firefighting resources. "When fires start in these areas, you can get small teams out there by aircraft if aircraft is available. Or you might just have to monitor the wildfire and let it play out its natural role," said Jones. The consequence: hazy and smoky skies. The worst AQI reading this summer in Minneapolis was on July 12, registering at 175. Friday's reading was nearly that high. It was enough to wreak havoc on campers and counselors at the Minneapolis Sailing Club. "It can make it hard to breathe sometimes, so kids are a little more tired, they get headaches. A lot of kids don't even come to camp on days like this," said Ana Weller. Two years ago, the air quality index in Minneapolis topped out at 243, the highest ever recorded by state officials. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Minneapolis had the worst air pollution in the United States that day. More than 600 American firefighters have traveled to Canada this summer to help battle those wildfires.

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Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Minnesotans feel effects of Canadian wildfires as skies fill with smoke

PHOTOS: Supercell hits Calgary area with hail, torrential rains

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Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Emergency plan 'worked great,' despite performer's encounter with lightning: Folk on the Rocks

Minnesotans feel effects of Canadian wildfires as skies fill with smoke

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