By John Burton
SEA BRIGHT – A strong but contained fire on Ocean Avenue Sunday evening into Monday morning left 10 residents displaced, destroying their apartments.
The local volunteer fire department received a call at approximately 7:33 p.m. Sunday about the fire at 1060 Ocean Ave., which houses the Seabreeze Wine and Spirits and three apartments on its second and third floors, according to Fire Chief Chad Murphy.
The fire was largely contained to the building’s apartment areas on the upper floors. But the borough fire department required the assistance from about 10 departments from surrounding communities and the efforts of approximately 75 firefighters to extinguish it, according to C. Read Murphy, former Sea Bright chief and Office of Emergency Management director.
Among the departments providing support were West Long Branch, Tinton Falls and Wayside, Highlands, Atlantic Highlands, Monmouth Beach Rumson and Fair Haven, the two men said.
“The second and third floor were a total loss,” and are uninhabitable, leaving the 10 residents out of their homes, Read Murphy said, adding, “It was so hot we had blue flames coming out of there.”
The liquor store sustained considerable water and smoke damage and has been closed since the fire, Chad Murphy added.
There was some minor damage to the second floor apartment of the abutting Ocean Avenue structure, which houses Gracie and the Dudes ice cream shop on its first floor, Read said.
The fire was extinguished by 4 a.m. Monday, according to Chad.
Two firefighters received minor injuries, with one twisting an ankle and another burned on his face, the chief said.
One resident was treated at Monmouth Medical Center, Long Branch, for smoke inhalation and released, Read said.
The cause of the blaze is still under investigation by the Sea Bright fire marshal and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, according to Chad.
