Posted on 09/08/2001 10:55:14 PM PDT by lewislynn
ROLLA, Mo. (September 8, 10:00 p.m. PDT) - An apparent lightning strike caught Sen. Jean Carnahan's house on fire Saturday night while she was inside, authorities said. No one was injured.
The fire broke out around 9 p.m. Saturday at the Democratic senator's home just southwest of Rolla, the Phelps County Sheriff's Department and the Missouri Highway Patrol said.
Three fire departments were helping douse the blaze, officials said.
A sheriff's dispatcher said initial reports indicate that a lightning strike triggered the blaze. It's not known who else was inside the house.
The patrol said the extent of the damage was not immediately known.
Calls late Saturday to the rural Rolla fire department went unanswered. Messages were also left with the senator's spokesman, Tony Wyche.
Carnahan was elected to the Senate last November, just three weeks after her husband, Gov. Mel Carnahan, died in a plane crash along with the couple's eldest son, and a close aide to the governor.
The Democratic governor's name remained on the ballot because a deadline for changes had passed, and Jean Carnahan agreed to replace him if he outpolled the incumbent, Republican Sen. John Ashcroft.
Carnahan won, 50 percent to 48 percent. Jean Carnahan became senator, and Ashcroft became U.S. Attorney General months later.
A bunch of lame "God is getting back at her" jokes, I'd imagine.
And, I'd bet lots of money that G*d has better things to do with His time.
Curious handle. Still fumbling the ball, Tony (heehee).
As Casey Stengel once noted "You could look it up".
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