SOUTH AMBOY, NJ -- At about 7 PM on Wednesday, May 12, 2004, a major storm crawled across Central New Jersey. In the City of South Amboy, lightning chose its victim to be a century old landmark.
Built in the 1800's, the Christ Episcopal Church on Main Street operated the building as a thrift shop. Wednesday night, a bolt of lightning struck the thrift shop starting a fire in the roof. The South Amboy Fire Department received the call for a fire alarm.
The department was updated en route that there were multiple calls on a fire at the building and a re-tone was transmitted for the working fire. All five South Amboy companies worked at the fire with mutual aid from Sayreville, Old Bridge and Perth Amboy.
The South Amboy First Aid Squad was on scene and established a rehab station for the firefighters. The fire was brought under control in about an hour and there were no injuries reported. Main Street was closed for approximately four hours.
