Firefighters Battling Blaze In Ship Bottom In Icy Conditions

SHIP BOTTOM, NJ - Surf City firefighters struggled to put out a "well-involved" three-alarm structural fire in Ship Bottom in the teeth of a Nor'easter on Wednesday afternoon.

Lightning could have hit the house on Shore Avenue, Rick Traut, chief of the Ship Bottom Volunteer Fire Company No. 1 told app.com.

Firefighters responded to the home around 2:11 p.m. on a report of a lightning strike, he said.

The fire is under investigation by the Ocean County Fire Marshal's Office and the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, Traut said.

Firefighters from Surf City, Beach Haven, High Point, Barnegat Light, Stafford, Barnegat, Waretown Forked River and Parkertown assisted with fire suppression and coverage, as did Ship Bottom police, the Beach Haven First Aid Squad, Stafford Township First Aid Squad, Ocean County Fire Marshal's Office, Atlantic City Electric and New Jersey Natural Gas.

Drivers and onlookers were asked to keep away because road conditions are "terrible," according to the fire company's Facebook page.

Photo: Courtesy of Surf City Fire Department, Video courtesy of Long Beach Islander