A bolt of lightning struck New Jersey’s beloved Turtle Back Zoo as strong storms moved through the area Wednesday night, sparking a fire but injuring no animals badly, authorities say.
According to reports, it was the Sea Turtle Recovery Building that was struck. The zoo was closed at the time, so no humans had been in the building, reports NJ.com. The building is a separate nonprofit within the zoo that helps sick and injured sea turtles until they are ready to be released back into the wild.
West Orange’s Fire Department and Police Department were dispatched to the scene.
Sea Turtle Recovery said in a statement on Facebook that the sea turtles in the building were exposed to heavy smoke and were moved to a safe building within the zoo for triage.
One turtle, an endangered Kemp’s Ridley named Pickles, had been in the animal hospital fighting a respiratory infection and was touch and go for a moment but pulled through, officials say.
All five turtles that had been in the building are stable. They continue to be monitored.
“We can not begin to assess the damage, and we do not know at this time all of the filtration and tank damage that was done. Again, our animals are the current focus,” the group said. “All we can say simply is that 7 years ago this hospital was a dream, and now 122 animals have been released. The turtles never give up, and they have taught us to never give up on them or ourselves. Sea Turtle Recovery is the only long-term care hospital in NJ, and WE WILL NOT give up. Again, the turtles are stable. We are making sure they are comfortable. We were blessed for so many circumstances that followed this initial lightning strike. So many things that could have gone wrong, did not.”
