BREAKING NJ - Spared by Sandy, Seaside Park boardwalk burning in six alarm blaze

[wfgodot]

Jersey Shore ablaze: Six-alarm fire rages at Seaside Park boardwalk, engulfing several buildings. (New York Daily News)

Emergency crews are evacuating the FunTown Amusement Pier as thick, black clouds darken the sky and embers scatter in the fierce winds as far as four blocks away.

The fire reportedly broke out about 2:15 p.m [ET]. Thursday at the iconic Kohr's Frozen Custard stand. It spread to neighboring buildings about 15 minutes later and eventually lit up the boardwalk itself.

It escalated quickly to five alarms and eventually reached six just before 4 p.m. It engulfed several buildings and shows no signs of letting up.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.
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more, with pictures, video, at the link

 

[21merc7]

Just saw this on local news. It had just been rebuilt. I do hope everyone is safe and no one harmed.

 

[wfgodot]

Don't know definitively but on the Twitter, word was that the boardwalk at Seaside Park was spared (more or less) by Sandy, but that, next door, Seaside Heights' had to be rebuilt. (That was the location of the iconic "roller coaster in the sea" pictures.)

 

[wfgodot]

NBC News ‏@NBCNews 8m
Massive fire destroys 80 percent of Jersey Shore boardwalk that survived Hurricane Sandy

livestream, article: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Fire-Along-Boardwalk-in-Seaside-Park--223511611.html

 

[ScarlettScarpetta]

This is horrible.. I was just watching live...

 

[wfgodot]

Just saw, live, a raised wooden old structure with the large letters F.U.N.T.O.W.N on its side, engulfed in flames. As I watched its large roof slewed backward and collapsed.

 

[Softail]

How sad! Horrible.

 

[momtective]

I'm watching the live feed (posted above) and I can't believe people (gawkers) are just standing there filling their lungs with all that smoke. They need to go home and just watch the live stream. :wink:

 

[momtective]

A raging fire that apparently started in an ice cream shop spread several blocks down a New Jersey shore boardwalk that was damaged in Superstorm Sandy and was being repaired.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=9245840

 

[popsicle]

livestream, article: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Fire-Along-Boardwalk-in-Seaside-Park--223511611.html

Christine Hemingway was working inside Kohr Brothers this afternoon and says it appears the smoke was rising from underneath the boardwalk.

"Our manager came running through the stand and said 'get out,' we go around the corner in front of Biscayne Candy and there was smoke coming up from the boardwalk," says Hemingway. "There was a little smoke and then all of a sudden, it got real thick and black."

Really hope this isn't arson.

 

[LadyL]

I guess the only good thing is that it's later in the year which means less people and less lost revenue.

All that black smoke looks scary as heck though.

 

[Karmady]

Really hope this isn't arson.

I grew up in NJ. There's no doubt in my mind that this is arson. NONE jmo

 

[SugarQueen]

Just saw, live, a raised wooden old structure with the large letters F.U.N.T.O.W.N on its side, engulfed in flames. As I watched its large roof slewed backward and collapsed.

The Funtown building is right on the Funtown Pier where the roller coaster was in the water after Sandy. That building hasn't reopened since then.
Although the businesses affected by the fire weren't destroyed by Sandy some did receive water damage. The boardwalk that they tore up in an effort to stop the fire from spreading is all brand new.
Such a sad, sad day : (

 

[SugarQueen]

Look at all the fire UNDER the pier....

 

[ClaireNC]

I grew up in NJ and spent many, many hours on that boardwalk. This is so very sad. So many wonderful memories created there. From my own childhood, through teen years to bringing my own children to the boardwalk each summer. Seeing the images of the places I remember so clearly up in flames brought tears to my eyes.

That being said...I also wouldn't be surprised if it was arson.

 

[HMSHood]

Horrible. I wonder what caused the fire. Hopefully no one got hurt or killed.

 

[kathiev]

The Funtown building is right on the Funtown Pier where the roller coaster was in the water after Sandy. That building hasn't reopened since then.
Although the businesses affected by the fire weren't destroyed by Sandy some did receive water damage. The boardwalk that they tore up in an effort to stop the fire from spreading is all brand new.
Such a sad, sad day : (

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.

 

[CHERIE.T]

I'm betting this was arson because I can't imagine how a fire in a small icecream store became this huge so quickly. Why couldn't the firemen and firewomen get it under control?
Imo something was going on to impede their putting the fire out.

Such devastation for NJ!/

 

[kathiev]

I'm betting this was arson because I can't imagine how a fire in a small icecream store became this huge so quickly. Why couldn't the firemen and firewomen get it under control?
Imo something was going on to impede their putting the fire out.

Such devastation for NJ!/

Don't know if it was arson or not. I know that people think NJ is corrupt, but there were other factors yesterday. The weather was wicked. We had very severe thunder storms and high winds all day. The winds are what caused the fire to spred so quickly. The boardwalk at that end is old and dry, the stands seem to be shacks, everything is made of wood and went up just like that.

We will get over it and move on. One thing about us NJ'ers...we are stronger than the storm and now the fire.

 

[Softail]

Fire rages along New Jersey boardwalk damaged by Sandy

Authorities said they did not yet know the cause of the fire and did not have an estimate of how many businesses had been damaged.

"I don't have a handle on it," Gabriel said. "It's a lot."

WCBS-TV reported, however, that witnesses said they saw electrical wires under the custard stand catch fire. The fire then burned through the stand and spread, the witnesses told WCBS-TV.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...seaside-heights-fire-20130913,0,5340611.story