Fatal lightning strikes, two teens dead

(Montvale-WABC, July 23, 2006) (WABC) -- The weather created a lot of problems including reports of lightening strikes. Late Saturday afternoon, four people in Montvale were struck by lightening. Two of them died.

A Saturday in the park turned tragic for the four teens that were struck by lightening. Two of them were killed. The two others remain in serious condition at Pascack Valley Hospital. Others in the park when the storm started around 5:30 p.m. say the lightening frightened them away.

Maureen McLaughlin was in the park at the time with her children. "We heard the thunder. I said to the kids, 'We got to get inside because where there's thunder there's not lightning far behind," she said.

It seems the teens were playing soccer at Montvale Memorial School and didn't heed the advice of people in the area. Lightening struck two teens, 18-year-old Steven Fagan of Woodcliff Lake and 19-year-old Lee Weisbrod of River Vale. They were killed instantly. Two other friends standing nearby, a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old identified only as Montvale residents, were thrown to the ground.

"Hopefully somebody gets some kind of help out of this. It's awful," said McLaughlin.

Meanwhile, just four miles away in River Edge, all eyes were on the front of a house on Kinderkamack Road. Residents feared it could collapse and take part of the roadway with it. The backyard literally washed away onto railroad tracks behind it. The foundation was exposed. Police evacuated the family that lives there and won't let anyone back in until it can be verified the foundation is safe.

"These types of houses are maybe eight to 10 feet max out of the back door until you drop down [to the river]," said Lloyd Breslin, a neighbor who lives near the home. "When they built them they took down all the trees and defoliated the whole side of the embankment. What happens is every time it rains everything has been eroding away."

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