Smoke Follows Lightning Strike at Historic Church St. Building in Matawan

An early evening lightning strike at the scene of an historic residential building along Church St. in Matawan brought frightened residents out of their homes and prompted a heavy response by fire, police and other emergency units Sunday. The incident was followed by reports of heavy smoke inside the building.

No exterior damage to the former school building was visible and fire officials later said they believed the source of the smoke was a clogged dryer vent in the basement of unit four. The vent was resting on a wooden beam which was also began smoldering.

"Every apartment had smoke in it," said Donald Mason, Deputy Chief of Matawan Borough Fire Department.

A sign outside the sprawling white frame building notes its origins, in 1834, as the Middletown Point Academy. In 1874 it became known as Glenwood Institute. Early in the 1900s it housed a military academy, which was closed in 1915. Eventually, it was divided into townhouse-style residental units.

Rolando Verdejo, who owns unit four with his daughter, Whitney Verdejo, emailed Matawan-Aberdeen Patch Monday morning and said that his daughter was in the unit at the time of the lightning flash and that she said the smoke appeared, and began triggering alarms, within 5 minutes.

Marissa Suarez of 14 Church Street said she had a clear view of the strike from the porch of her home next door. "It was pouring and then all you heard was a loud bang. I actually looked up and saw it (the lightning bolt) hit." She pointed to the expanse of lawn in front of the large white frame building, which is divided into townhome units. "It was on all our front lawns," she said of the lightning. Very white. Like, I'm not afraid of lightning and it actually made me scream."

Ms. Suarez and other neighbors said residents of the townhomes immediately begin exiting from the front entrances of their units. Police, fire and emergency vehicles quickly arrived on the scene, spreading out along Church St. An aerial ladder was extended to the roof of the building. 

Rolando Verdejo, acknowledging, "I am not an expert," said he would be surprised if the lighning flash was not the direct cause of the smoke. "The dryer was not in use and had not been in use for 2 days," he said.  

Neighbors gathered on Ms. Suarez's porch said they heard another firefighter point out that the dryer vents into a metal pipe. 

Whatever ignited the fire, "It could have been a lot worse," said a firefighter on the scene.

Aberdeen, Union Beach, Hazlet, Keyport and Cheesequake fire departments responded to the scene.