Lightning strike ignites fire at Turtle Back Zoo building in NJ

Peacocks escape Bronx Zoo

At least five peacocks and peahens had escaped the Bronx Zoo in NYC.

NEW JERSEY - A building at the Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange, NJ was struck by lightning on Wednesday night and caught fire.

According to Sea Turtle Recovery in a Facebook post, the bolt hit their building, sparking a fire and causing damage to the roof.

The organization said "the sea turtles were exposed to heavy smoke so we immediately moved them to a safe building inside the zoo for triage."

"We know there are so many to thank including the fire department for their quick action that put out the fire, the zoo staff that became our right hand through it all and spotted the fire after the hit, and now the NY team is still helping us. We know some are left out, and we will have more posts soon," the organization said in the Facebook post.