Lightning attaching to a wire will instantly vaporize the wire.

Not always. Depends on the resistance of the
ground connection. If the resistance is low, a # 6 wire
can take a direct strike, and barely warm up at all.
Even a #10 is ok, if the connection to ground is good.
You might see a tiny pit where the point of contact
was. But a high resistance ground connection, and
yes, it will fry. I've taken two direct strikes on my mast,
and can see no damage at all. You can see a tiny pit
where the strike connected to the mast top, but even
it could be easily missed. According to my experience,
I think the quality of the ground connection also effects
the sound of the strike, not counting the sonic boom overhead.
A strike hitting my mast is very quiet. It's like a light bulb
being thrown on the ground, "plink", and you hear the overhead
sonic boom. But when it hits the trees with their high resistance
to ground, the strike is earsplitting. "CRACK-BAAAAAMMMM".
Thats the "local" sound, not the sonic boom, although they mix.
I don't operate during storms, and doubt I would, even if I could.
I unplug the antennas, and ground them out to ground outside
the window. If I *had* to operate during a storm, I would use my
attic dipole. It's the least likely to take a hit, in general.
MK