This fire happened at the other end of the boardwalk, the south end. The roller coaster that went into the ocean was at the Casino Pier at the north end.
Investigators are suspicious of the fire's origin for the following reasons: it was a midday fire with no bad weather to speak of or obvious cause, there were no injuries, the structure survived the summer season only to burn now and a huge number of firefighters were not around Thursday because the annual New Jersey Firemen's Convention is kicking off today in Atlantic City, sources told ABC News.
The investigation into the cause of the fire has been taken over by the county prosecutor, which officials said was a routine procedure.
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“The f*ck*ng carousel is gone, man!” Tim Donnelly, a surfer and writer who is a longtime resident of the Jersey Shore, said. It was one of the oldest and grandest on the East Coast. “The Beachcomber Bar is gone. It just had a totally new renovation, the owner, he worked so hard, made all these really cool improvements—gone.” He added, “That’s the thing, dude, that part of the boardwalk and the pier took the brunt of Sandy and it survived, man. And now it’s burned to the ground.”
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