foundation was deep enough to allow us to dig a full basement
to give us a lower floor that we didn’t have before, and the
cost of that addition accounted for the difference. It took three
years to rebuild and restore the church.” Mrs. Mostler ought to
know: she served as chairperson of the rebuilding committee
throughout the entire operation.
For Mr. Loehr, the rebuilt church presented an opportunity to
install a robust, standards-based lightning protection system
that would shield the structure well into the future. “The church
had no lightning protection beforehand,” said Mr. Loehr, “So
we installed an all-copper, Class II lightning protection system,
beginning with a Franklin electrode at the top of the cross atop
the steeple. We used 28-strand, 0.066-in copper lightning cable
as down-conductors, connecting them to ¾-in X 10-ft driven
electrodes wherever we were able. The cables are practically
invisible from street-level. We installed additional air terminals
along the periphery of the new roof and on all exposed conduits
and structures on the roof itself. Everything, including the
building’s electrical and water systems was interconnected, and
everything is also now at the same ground potential.”
Despite the passage of more than a decade of thunderstorm
seasons, St. James has suffered no further lightning damage. Mrs.
Ostler, for one, believes that her church is now safe: “We thought
the church was protected, and it wasn’t. Now, it’s very clear to
me that lightning protection is important. We never want to go
through a fire like that again.”
Kimberly Loehr,
Communications
consultant for the
Lightning Protection
Institute.
The Lightning Protection
Institute (LPI) is a not-
for-profit nationwide
group founded in 1955 to
promote lightning safety,
awareness and education
and is a leading resource for
lightning protection installation in accordance with national
safety standards of NFPA and UL.
LPI emphasizes that “steeple only” lightning protection does
not meet industry standards for safe and effective lightning
protection. Steeple grounding and partial protection
methods have been found to cause more harm than good,
leaving structures vulnerable to lightning side-flash, surge
problems and structural damage, and even fire.
LPI certifies individuals for the installation of lightning
protection systems through a Master Installer testing
program to qualify competence. LPI supports lightning
protection quality control and assurance through third-party
inspection. Information about follow-up inspection services
can be found at www.lpi-lp.com. For a list of certified
contractors visit the LPI website at www.lightning.org
6
The Principals
Daniel Lutsky is facilities manager at Mount
Ararat Baptist Church, Stafford, Virginia. He
experienced the frequent lightning-related
damage to church electrical systems leading up
to the massive 2013 strike. Mr. Lutsky can be
reached at [email protected]
J. J. Loehr is president of Loehr Lightning
Protection Company, Richmond, Virginia. Mr.
Loehr is a Commonwealth of Virginia Class
A contractor and an LPI-certified master
installer/designer. Mr. Loehr can be reached at
[email protected]
Betty Mostler witnessed the 1994 fire that
destroyed most of St. James Episcopal Church,
Richmond, Virginia. She was subsequently
appointed and hired to direct the three-year,
multi-million-dollar restoration project.