On the afternoon of July 22, a strong thunderstorm swept through Chaves County, striking the 6 Mile Hill region with intense lightning and wind. One of those lightning strikes directly impacted a major Straight Shot Wireless distribution site, causing an abrupt loss of service to customers in the surrounding area.
Pictured: The new site being deployed for the East Pine Lodge area in the foreground, while the storm responsible for the outage actively rains over 6 Mile Hill in the background — captured by chance during a routine site visit.
The affected sites suffered critical hardware failure as approximately 90% of the equipment was damaged in the event. Power was still present at the location, but none of the core systems responded to diagnostics — a clear sign of widespread electronic failure from the lightning strike.
By 4:00 p.m., Straight Shot Wireless had field technicians in motion to assess the situation. Backup power was ready to be activated, but the root cause was quickly confirmed to be more complex. Once a full inventory of required components was taken, the team returned to base, gathered replacement hardware, and immediately redeployed.
Troubleshooting on-site revealed multiple layers of damage, requiring several trips for parts and tools. In addition to the electrical issues, the team encountered multiple large wasp nests that had established themselves in and around the equipment cabinets. These unexpected hazards had to be removed to ensure technician safety before restoration work could proceed. Field and remote personnel coordinated efforts into the evening, working diligently until nearly 9:00 p.m. to bring full service restoration to all affected subscribers.
“While we can’t always prevent acts of nature, we can absolutely control how we respond to them,” said Nathan Babcock, President of Straight Shot Wireless. “Our team showed exactly what we stand for — fast, professional, and relentless support when our community needs it most.”
We’re proud of our technicians for their tireless work and grateful to our customers for their patience as we navigated this challenging event.
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