Second Major Fire Ts Asbury Park; Ss at $1 Million by CHARLES A
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Second Major Fire ts Asbury Park; ss at $1 Million By CHARLES A. JOHNSTON Asbury pavilion was the oldest so-called perma- nent building on the walk. ASBURY PARK—The second of two apparent- Nine firemen, of more than 250 from Asbury ly matching fires in five weeks yesterday destroyed Park and seven surrounding communities who bat- a long section of city boardwalk and a beachfront tled the three-hour blaze, suffered burns, cuts and two-story brick city pavilion. smoke poisoning. All were treated at Fitkin Hos- In carbon-copy fashion to the fire of Aug. 6 pital, Neptune, and were released. which wrecked the Sunset Avenue Pavilion, and About 50 customers and store personnel es- 550 feet of boardwalk, at the north end of the caped unhurt. beach, fire whipped through the Asbury Avenue More than 5,000 people flocked to the scene Pavilion arid 850 feet of promenade. just north of the Casino which arcs the boardwalk at the entrance to Ocean Grove. The fire broke Smoke was so dense on both occasions that out at 12:15 p.m. roaring, leaping flames couldn't be seen at times. Though the cause of either boardwalk fire is AT THE END — Aerial phpto reveals Asbury Park boardwalk and pavilion loss after the.smoke has cleared anci City Manager Kendall H. Lee, who had esti- as yet undetermined, Mr. Lee and Fire Chief Mi- flames have burned out. In background, across from gutted area, it Empress Motel which was evacuated and mated the Sunset loss at.$800,000, said the As- chael De Sarno agreed both started in the same Wet down by firemen as precautionary measure. bury blaze setback would exceed $1,000,000. The manner. This was their version: Weather A bolt of yellow flame suddenly leaped out 7 a.m. temperature 68. Partly of a part of the boardwalk a few feet in front of cloudy today, tonight, and tomor- BEDBANK the buildings, was wafted by a mild ocean breeze row, with a chance of scattered showers tonight. High today, against the buildings, crackled windows, leaped about 80. Low tonight, 60. See ) Independent Daily f inside, and soon engulfed every possible spot weather, page 2. "Identical," was the word used by both the manager and chief in describing the fire patterns. iMuut dtllr, Monday throutfi Friday. Btoond Cl«i» POJUH Chief De Sarno said in August he believed the VOL. 86, NO. 54 Pali U Md Bank ul U Additional Malilnf Offices. RED BANK, N. J., THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12,. 1963 7c PER COPY north end fire may have been caused by a cigarette falling through the boards and igniting an accumu- lation of an unidentified gas. He said yesterday the same could have been true at the south end. Slow Start'—Then "Insurance underwriters have been investigat- ? . , _ ing ever since the first fire and were on the scene 9 yesterday, making comparisons and trying to es- tablish the spot of origin and cause," Mr. Lee said. 'Breeze Took Over "They have not revealed any of their conclu- sions but I do expect a report within a week. Pos- ASBURY PARK - "At first it looked as "I ran to the telephone and called fire though you could put it out with a pail of headquarters, but-never did I think it would sibly it will cover both fires." water." be so serious." Destroyed were the Criterion Candy Store, So said eyewitness Sheldon F. DeBaun, "Why the smoke was so thick afterwards which occupied the entire ground story floor space 409)4 Fourth Ave. yesterday as he viewed you couldn't even see the flames." ruins of the city's second beachfront fire in one-half of the building; Elton Kohr's custard which between them, have caused more than Frank Eisele, a bartender at the Colonial stand; Elizabeth Jemison's gift shop; Betty $2 million in losses this summer. Cafe, First and Ocean Aves., who also saw Brown's fountain and candy shop, and Jules "But the breeze took over," he added. the initial stages said: "Flames began to eat up awning3 shading "It was like a mushroom ... I thought Resnick's Import Shop. the store windows. People ran in every di- I was seeing an atom bomb go up. There Most of the rides in Leon Masser's Fun-O- rection. Maybe it took longer but it seemed was some kind of an explosion at the same Rama playland north of the pavilion, opposite First to me it was hardly a half hour before there time." w»» black, brick skeleton standing-over a long As fire engines roared to the scene and Ave. were scorched and tarred by dense smoke bed ol black ashes." crowds backed up in the streets, he said, the from the burning creosoted boards. < Mr. DeBaun, a former state vice com- bar room quickly filled up and soon he be- mander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, had came-^ovbusy he didn't see much more of the Both, of the enclosed solariums, at either end been helping man a VFW auto raffle^tand ''actual burning. of the second floor open deck of the pavilion, were just inside the boardwalk door* of the Casino.. Mrs. John Jones, the owner, meanwhile, in shambles. 500 feet south of the wrecked Asbury Avenue helped serve free coffee to firemen. pavilion. (See FIRE, Page 2). ''There was a flash of yellow fire in the Anthony Gallo, owner of The Living- boards about 12 feet off the northwest corner Room, on Kingsley St.,: near First Ave., of the building down.at First Ave.," said Mrs. closed his tavern to help police direct traffic Percy Mclntyre, operator of a tobacco store in the early stages of confusion. at the north end of the Casino. (See START, Page 2) IN FULL FURY — At its height, Asbury Park beachfront fire revealed this scene. Delay Is Seen On Dense smoke from creos'ored boardwalk blacked out the fiercely-burning and leaping Quits Over Prayer Ban flames which were racing through Asbury Ave. pavilion. ; Interchange Link MIDDLETOWN — The Town- ity on ttie question of an access ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS - A der to avoid any embarrassment Respectfully, Irene R. Nelson.' ship Committee announced last road "in principle." teacher who for 40 years opened to you, I will step out. Edward G. Walder, board pres night it would need more time Officials noted, however, that her daily classes with Bible read- "How well 1 remember a sen- ident, commented, "I thorough before it could act on a proposal more engineering data was Ing and a prayer quit the tence in the old Reed and Kel- ly agree with Mrs. Nelson. How- to build an extension to Dwight needed. •chool system here because, logg Grammar: 'A Nation that Rd. to connect it with the Garden Officials also pointed out that she said, no one, including the forgets God will perish.' ever, a ruling has been mad< and we have to comply. We ac State Parkway interchange at it would be impossible for the U. S. Supreme Court, can stop "Thank you for all the happy township to go ahead with the cept her resignation with regre Red Hill Rd. her from continuing this prac memories of my years In your project this year as its engineer- tice. schools. She was an excellent teacher. The committee said it would ing department is involved in Mrs. Irene R. Nelson, Viola ask the New Jersey Highway Au- various public works projects un- Ave., Leonardo, now a substitute thority which operates the park der the Accelerated Public Works teacher explained in a letter to way, to place in escrow $50,000 program. it has allocated as its share of the Board of Education that her Boards Told—Obey Some officials feel it .might be action was taken "to avoid any the cost of constructing the ex- tension. a year or two before the access embarrassment to you." road is actually needed. • Board Action Court's Prayer Rule If the authority does not wish The committee has already Mrs. Nelson's decision also lo\- to do this, the committee then been advised that it will cost lowed her reading of a story in TRENTON (AP)—Two mor lem, but have adopted a wait an wants it to extend the deadline approximately $100,000 to build The Register, Aug. 15, which an- voices have joined the chorus see attitude. for action on the proposal until the extension. nounced that the board had voted controversy over prayers in Nev the end of the year. After the U.S. Supreme Court The Highway Authority has of- unanimously to abide by the re- Jersey schools. The governing body said it ruling, which dealt with Maryland fered to give $50,000 towartfs the cent U.S. Supreme Court rul- The state Board of Education wanted to co-operate with author- project cost. ing banning the reading of the and Pennsylvania laws, Atty. Gen. in its first public statement or Arthur J. Sills issued a formal de- Bible and recitation, of the Lord's the issue, sharply criticized loca' Prayer. cision that New Jersey's law school districts that insist on Bible were also affected. New Jersey' State Education Commission- reading and Lord's Prayer cere A irpori Owner Says er Frederick M. Raubinger, had law required the reading of five monies in classrooms. The boarc verses of the Old Testament at sent a letter to the board, as he told them to stop doing it. had to all boards throughout the opening of each school day am state, requiring compliance with At the same time, the Ne' permitted the Lord's Prayer to be Councilman inErrar Jersey region of the Americar repeated.