Fire rips through N.J. boardwalk
A fire that started inside a Seaside Park, N.J., frozen custard shop has ravaged most of the boardwalk in an area damaged during Superstorm Sandy.
"I told my staff, 'I feel like I want to throw up,'" said Gov. Chris Christie at a news conference. "It is just unthinkable."
The fire, which started after 2 p.m. reportedly at Kohr's Frozen Custard shop and was still burning by press time, spread due to 30- to 40-mile-per-hour winds that pushed plumes of smoke across the boardwalk.
The wind even picked up a chunk of ember that hit a condominium, starting a fire that was quickly put out, Christie said.
"Right now we have firefighters and trucks from all around New Jersey here working together," Christie said.
There were about 400 firefighters on scene battling the blaze.
To control the blaze and keep it from continuing north, firefighters dug a 20-foot trench in the boardwalk. Christie said the destruction on the boardwalk south of where the trench was cut "is complete."
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
'His sacrifice made a difference': Gold Star mother honors son's memory Army Pfc. Raheen Tyson Heighter, 22, of Bay Shore, was the first serviceman from Long Island killed in the Iraq War.
