ALGOA, Texas -- An oil well worker zapped by a lightning strike Tuesday refused medical treatment and went back to work.

Wayne Fults, 41, of Boling, said he was working with a crew to cap an Algoa oil well when a lightning bolt crashed to the ground nearby.

Fults had one foot on a metal ground beam supporting a 110-foot oil well completion rig and the other foot on the ground. His hand was on a pipe connected to the rig, he said.

“I was knocking a pipe loose, and when the lightning hit about a block away, a piece of it came across the sky and tapped the rig,” Fults said.

“If the whole thing had hit that rig, I’d be dead,” he said.

‘All felt it’

Manuel Mejia of El Campo said when the bolt struck the rig, he couldn’t let go of a pair of pliers for a second.

Fults’ co-workers felt the static electricity.

“We all felt it,” said Bobby Cadriel also of El Campo. “I don’t think it hit directly. Maybe it traveled in the ground.”

The crew said the sun was shining, and it was not raining when the bolt struck.

Writhing in pain from his hand, Fults yelled for one of his workers to pull his glove off.

“He rolled over a couple of times and said, ‘Oh that hurts!’ ” said Hayne Blakely. “He laid down on the pipes, and we tried to get him off them as quickly as we could.”

Fults said one of his co-workers, who was helping him, couldn’t stop laughing.

“They’re calling me Lightning McQueen, after that car on the Disney cartoon that has a lightning bolt down the side,” Fults said.

Home for a nap

Police and an ambulance crew went to the oil well on Boren Road, shortly after the 9:20 a.m. 911 call, but Fults refused treatment and returned to work.

“I actually laughed after it was over with,” Fults said.

Fults worked for about another hour, then waited on his wife to return home before he decided to take a nap.

He said he’s never been that close to a lightning strike before.

“I ran electricity wire before,” Fults said. “It’s like not knowing that electricity wire is live, grabbing on to it and not letting go. It’s a little stronger than that.”

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce National Climatic Data Center, 10 lightning events have been reported in Galveston County since 1993.

The strikes resulted in five deaths, two injuries and $2.17 million in property damage.

The National Weather Service in League City received three reports of funnel clouds in the Houston area.

Two were reported in Galveston Bay, including one that turned into a water spout, said Debby Helvy with the weather service.

Another funnel was reported at Interstate 45 and FM 518 in League City, Helvy said. There were no reports of storm-related injuries or property damage in Galveston County, she said.

The weather service reported 0.28 inches of rain at Scholes International Airport in Galveston as of 5:30 p.m., but the island is still 8.37 inches below normal rainfall for the year.