The Seaside Boardwalk in New Jersey suffered its second devastating attack Thursday when a fire started in a local ice cream shop and devoured twenty businesses less than one year after Hurricane Sandy left its destruction. Governor Chris Christie has since reacted to the blaze as has the communities many residents.
Residents and workers worked desperately to prepare the famous Boardwalk for the summer season, spending roughly one million dollars to repair the damage. The recently reconstructed area in addition to six blocks of the beach community were destroyed when a blaze started in Kohr’s Ice Cream Shop Thursday afternoon, The Associated Press reports.
Governor Chris Christie rushed to the fire and told reporters after seeing the destruction that it made him want to “throw up.”
Nearly 400 firefighters responded to the fire in the hopes of containing the fire, but the fire made its way underneath the boardwalk making it even more difficult to fight.
At one point in the evening, the fire jumped Ocean Avenue and set fire to two homes. Thankfully, firefighters were able to put out the fire before any more destruction was made to the homes. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Boardwalk and the surrounding businesses.
Shirley Kreszl, who has rented a summer home in Seaside Park told reporters, “It’s devastating; I’ve been crying all afternoon. Haven’t we been hit enough? We try to rebuild and just when we think we saved a little bit of our town, this happens. It’s just not fair.”
Another resident notes that she “can’t believe this is happening.”
Firefighters explained that they will be working on the fire for days.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Councilwoman Nancy Koury told the AP. “Our small business people went through so much in the storm to get ready for summer and stay open all summer, and now it’s all gone. I just can’t believe it.”
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