Over the weekend, a local man who rushed onto a beach in Seaside Park, New Jersey, to warn beachgoers about a storm was struck dead by lightning.

Patrick Dispoto, 59, was at the beach with his girlfriend Sunday, but they returned to their truck when they saw a storm coming. Mr. Dispoto left her in the truck to go warn children on the beach about the storm.

The lifeguards normally posted on the beach had already left for the night by the time the storm came, according to regional cable news channel News 12 New Jersey.

“He said, ’I’ll be right back.’ I said, ’You have no business going back.’ And he says, ’I’m just going to warn these kids because the sky is going to open. I’m just going to warn these kids — one minute.’ I said, ’no,’” girlfriend Ruth Fussell told WABC-TV.

He was found unconscious just after 7:30 p.m., police Sgt. Andrew Casole told NBC News.

When Mr. Dispoto did not return, Ms. Fussell called him three times.

After 15 minutes, she went out to the beach and found him face down, with a bystander doing chest compressions.

Emergency medical response personnel eventually arrived and took him to the hospital, where Mr. Dispoto was pronounced dead.

Authorities confirmed this week that Mr. Dispoto’s death was accidental and caused by a lightning strike.

Seaside Park had bought a lightning warning system in April, but it was only scheduled to be installed Wednesday. Seaside Park Borough Administrator Karen Kroon told CNN that it was not being installed as a result of Mr. Dispoto’s death.

“The borough made that investment because public safety is extremely important and we want to do everything we can to alert our residents and visitors to imminent danger,” Ms. Kroon said.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.