Fire destroys historic NJ synagogue, report says

In a joint statement, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey, New Brunswick police chief Anthony Caputo and county fire marshal Michael Gallagher announced that an investigation into the specific cause of the fire remains active.

A second alarm was transmitted a minute later as flames were apparently through the roof of the historic building and all firefighters were ordered to evacuate. He said the synagogue’s caretaker was inside the building on Neilson Street in downtown New Brunswick and heard a few bangs and fire on the first floor.

Police and fire officials say the cause of a fire that destroyed a historic synagogue in New Brunswick Friday appears to be accidental.

The synagogue site was purchased in 1905.

“The synagogue was built probably around 1924”, New Brunswick Councilman John Anderson told MyCentralJersey.com. The synagogue has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995, according to the congregation’s website.

Rabbi Abraham Mykoff has served the synagogue for more than 20 years, according to the website.

Around 100 families from the Poile Zedek congregation attended services there, and several students from Rutgers University also used to pray at the worship house.

Jennifer Bradshaw, New Brunswick’s public information officer, said police and firefighters were on the scene, as well as mutual aid companies working to extinguish the fire.

There were no reports of injuries. “It’s like God forbid there should be a fire in a synagogue, if it’s possible to rescue anything from it then the torah scrolls are the first priority”, Goldring said. Eight fire departments responded just before the roof collapsed.