By Donald Wittkowski
Sea Isle City’s outbreak of devastating fires in the past 18 months continued Sunday afternoon when a storage facility went up in flames and a commercial boat and an adjacent home were damaged, authorities said.
Sea Isle Police Chief Tom McQuillen said the fire may have started in or near a refrigerated storage building next to the Two Chums bait and tackle shop, located along the bayfront on 43rd Place in the city’s historic Fish Alley neighborhood.
Two people were transported to a local hospital for minor injuries. Their names were not released. One of them is an employee at the bait and tackle shop, McQuillen said.
When firefighters arrived on scene at 371 43rd Place, they found a large storage shed engulfed in flames. The fire spread to a fuel tank and a commercial fishing boat in the water. Neighboring homes were evacuated, according to a press release.
The intense heat from the fire also damaged the exterior of a duplex next door to the bait and tackle shop. McQuillen said the duplex appeared to have sustained minor damage to the vinyl siding. At last word, the duplex owner was expected to be able to return home on Sunday.
Thick, black smoke billowed from the fire before Sea Isle firefighters were able to extinguish it. Neighboring fire crews from Avalon, Ocean City, Ocean View, Seaville, Strathmere and the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office also responded.
McQuillen and City Business Administrator George Savastano praised the efforts of Sea Isle’s volunteer firefighters and the neighboring departments in battling the blaze.
“I thought it was outstanding, from all accounts,” Savastano said of the response by firefighters.
McQuillen said firefighters did a superb job bringing the fire under control and safely evacuating residents from adjacent homes.
“All things considered, the system worked,” he said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It broke out shortly after 12:15 p.m.
Hundreds of people watched the fire while standing on the boardwalk at Sea Isle’s municipal marina across the lagoon from 43rd Place. Police officers later ordered the crowds at the marina to move across the street to protect them from the smoke.
“The smoke isn’t good for your lungs. Everyone, get across the street,” one officer told bystanders.
Tony Ieradi, who lives at 39th Street and Pleasure Avenue, said he began watching the fire around 12:15 p.m. By then, the flames were beginning to spread from the storage shed. He took video of the blaze while standing at the marina.
“By the time I got up here, it was engulfed,” Ieradi said of the storage building. “The fire went under a dock and then went to a boat.”
Another bystander, Brian White, an Egg Harbor Township resident whose mother-in-law lives in Sea Isle, said there was a big plume of smoke before firefighters doused the flames.
“What I saw was a lot of smoke,” White said. “That thing took a while to get some water on it.”
Sunday’s blaze was the latest in a series of fires that have struck Sea Isle in the past 18 months.
Altogether, nine single-family homes or duplexes have been destroyed in four separate fires between November 2017 and this past May. One fire last year killed an elderly woman who was living in a duplex on 54th Street.
Investigators said all of the fires appeared to be accidental. The last one, on May 23, started as a car fire that spread to a single-family home at 5605 Central Avenue and destroyed it.
Residents have been appearing at Sea Isle’s City Council meetings in recent months to urge the governing body to consider creating a professional fire department instead of continuing to rely exclusively on volunteer firefighters.
City officials have pledged to consider a number of options to improve fire safety in town, including the possibility of paid firefighters and stricter building codes.
During the Council meetings, Sea Isle officials have indicated, though, that they believe the city has enough protection with the volunteer fire department.
After Sunday’s fire was brought under control, McQuillen said the volunteer firefighters had quickly rushed to the scene to prevent it from destroying any other homes or buildings.
“When tragedy breaks out, it shows you the value of the men and women (in the volunteer fire department),” he said.
