MADAWASKA – The explosive sound of lightning ripping through the building awoke Beth Clark just before 2 a.m. Friday. When she turned on the lights she realized smoke was filling the apartment where she lived with her two children.

Clark called 911, dressed the children, Austin Badger, 3, and Kalie Badger, 2, and left the second-floor apartment at 574 Main St. Within minutes, the structure was in flames.

A Fraser Papers Inc. employee taking a break outside the paper mill saw the lightning strike, according to Peter Parent, assistant fire chief at Madawaska.

The structure, home of the former Wonder Bar, was destroyed, leaving only a pile of rubble. The building, a 27-foot-by-57-foot three-story structure, owned by Robert Bouchard of Van Buren, was not insured, according to Parent.

Bouchard, also the owner of the Van Buren Hotel, known as the Yacht Club, shut down the once popular nightspot about 18 months ago. He told local officials he canceled the insurance on the building a year ago.

The value of the loss could not be ascertained Friday. Bouchard could not be reached. The local property tax valuation on the structure was listed at nearly $93,000.

In less than five minutes, the whole building was up in flames, Clark said Friday morning. “We got out with what we had on our backs.

“The only thing we have left are two car seats and they are drying on the lawn across the street,” she said. “We are not injured.”

Parent said the area was struck by heavy lightning during the early morning hours.

“They were severe,” Parent said, still at the scene late Friday morning. “Within minutes flames were shooting through the roof.

“Firefighters were at the scene within 10 minutes and flames were coming through the roof,” the veteran volunteer firefighter said. “There were flames everywhere 20 minutes after the call came in.”

Madawaska volunteer firefighters were assisted by fellow volunteers from the Frenchville and Edmundston, New Brunswick, fire departments. Parent estimated that 45 to 50 firefighters worked through the night.

Firefighters were at the scene until noon Friday. During the afternoon, a group of firefighters kept checking the scene for flare-ups.

“It was a big effort by a lot of people,” Parent said. “I am talking firefighters, police officers and ambulance personnel.

“Everybody did a great job,” Parent said. “There was just no way to save it.”

Parent said they were hampered by false ceilings and double roofs on different sections of the building.

Parent also was alluding to firefighters’ efforts to save adjacent structures. Buildings on both sides were within four feet of the burning structure.

Both buildings, one of which was the former Modern Theatre and now an office building, the other a restaurant and recreational center, were spared major damage. They both had smoke damage and some blackening on the outside.

The structure also had homes and other apartment complexes along the back of the building. Those had mostly smoke damage.

Parent said firefighters used two pumpers and an aerial truck from Edmundston. Three other pumpers were on standby.

After the fire was out, heavy equipment was used to push down a back wall considered a safety risk.

This is the second building destroyed on Main Street in the last two years. Two years ago, a building just two doors down from the burned structure was crushed by the weight of snow and ice on its roof.

Parent said Clark lost everything in the fire. The Red Cross, according to the woman, found her a room at a local motel, and the town was assisting her.

Clark said she was in need of clothing for her children and herself.

The family lost their two pet cats in the fire.