A fire tore through a strip mall in Franklin Township, New Jersey, late at night, gutting a row of small businesses that anchor a local plaza on Hamilton Street. The blaze broke out shortly before midnight and spread quickly through the building, leaving behind scenes of charred rubble where storefronts had stood only hours earlier.
According to police, the fire started when a lightning strike hit a discount store at the plaza, igniting flames that then began to race along the row of shops. With strong winds pushing the fire forward, it moved from one unit to the next before crews could get ahead of it, turning a routine night into a major emergency for the small commercial center.
By the time the fire was brought under control, it had damaged every store in the plaza, six businesses in all. Among those caught in the path of the flames were a grocery store, a laundromat and a discount store, several of which were left severely damaged or destroyed as the fire chewed through the connected units.
The discount store where the fire is believed to have started bore the worst of it, reduced to a pile of rubble with virtually nothing left standing. The intensity of the blaze was clear from the wreckage, underlining how fast a fire can consume a tightly packed row of shops once it takes hold.
Because the local fire station sits just around the corner, firefighters were able to reach the scene within minutes of the first reports. Even so, the flames were intense and moved fast. The one piece of good fortune was the timing: the fire erupted after the businesses had closed for the night, which meant no one was inside and no injuries were reported.
The human cost is measured instead in livelihoods. The grocery store alone, the Super Tropical Food Market, employs more than two dozen people, and its owners spoke of their heartbreak at watching years of work and effort go up in flames, along with their worry for the families who depend on the business for their income.
Despite the destruction, the owners said they intend to rebuild. In the meantime, they pointed customers toward a second location they operate on Livingston Avenue in North Brunswick, about ten minutes away, where they hope to temporarily place some of their staff and keep serving shoppers while the Franklin Township store is brought back to life.