We have a large metal pole in the backyard of our library. It’s probably between 100-200 feet tall and is only about 30 feet away from the actual library building, if that.
It’s a giant lightning rod.
A storm passed through one morning before we were open, and Mr. Robb heard a lightning strike nearby, followed by some other noise. After smelling smoke, he looked around and found a big mess in our server room. The server room has our electrical switches, server, and similar stuff. It’s about as big as a small closet. When he walked in Mr. Robb found a shattered receptacle on the floor, melted wires, and charred circuits (not to mention black marks all over the wall where the receptacle exploded).
It turns out that the lightning stuck that big pole in our backyard, traveled through some wires into our building, and made its way to the server room, where it literally burned, melted, or blew up anything near the receptacle. It also left that pleasant electrical fire aroma lingering. I guess we should be glad the library didn’t catch fire and burn down.