Peekskill NJ Abbey Inn suffered minimal damage after lightning strike
Firefighters battle fire at Abbey Inn & Spa in Peekskill
Firefighters battle a flash fire at the Abbey Inn and Spa in Peekskill on July 17, 2024.
A lightning strike at the Abbey Inn and Spa in Peekskill last week caused minimal damage and no injuries. According to an Abbey Inn official, events will go ahead as planned.
There were no guest rooms left in the rooms where the strike took place last Wednesday.
Rather, it happened on the side of the ballroom/banquet hall, in a corner area between the roof and the ceiling, said Sanjeev Rai, the inn’s manager.
Rai said the grounded lightning rod/wire mostly did its job, but there may have been a few strikes, one of which resulted in what he described as a situation consisting mostly of smoke and burning embers.
“It wasn’t a real fire, so to speak,” Rai said.
Rai said the damage included some broken windows – a precaution for firefighters arriving – and some wall damage, all of which he said had been repaired. He said a broken section of the roof needed to be repaired.
The events planned for last weekend at the Abbey Inn went as planned.
Related Abbey Inn in Peekskill reportedly struck by lightning: See photos and videos of the fire
The Yorktown Heights Volunteer Fire Department, which was on scene to assist Peekskill firefighters, said in a Facebook post that it was assigned roofing duties “as the fire was located in a portion of the roof of the 122-year-old former convent.” Firefighters performed “the extremely labor and personnel intensive process of cutting away multiple layers of piled asphalt shingles, multiple layers of foam insulation, tar, plywood and tongue and groove lumber to expose and extinguish the fire in the voids under the roofline and to check for any potential for further spread in the hot and humid weather.”
Peekskill Fire Chief James Seymour said last week that “it appeared that lightning had indeed struck the building, resulting in a fire in a lower roof structure.”
Ginsburg Development Companies converted the vacant former St. Mary’s Convent building several years ago into the Abbey Inn and Spa, featuring the Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant Apropos. The property is a destination for weddings, business conferences and tourism.
There is a restaurant, indoor and outdoor pools, valet parking and a concierge.
The 42-room inn and spa at 900 Fort Hill Road was part of a Ginsburg development that also includes the 178-unit Fort Hill Apartments on the other property in northwest Peekskill overlooking the Hudson River.
About 60 hectares of land next to the holiday apartments and the guesthouse are designated as hiking trails.
The Fort Hill site was an observation post for George Washington’s army during the Revolutionary War, according to the developer. In the late 19th century, the property became the home of the Sisters of St. Mary, an Episcopal order.
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