Huge fire damages NJ boardwalk, amusement park

Owners of Playland vow to rebuild by springtime

PHILADELPHIA — George Flowers was walking to get his first cup of coffee Saturday morning when he looked out of the window of his 14th-floor condo and saw a massive black plume of smoke billowing over the boardwalk in Ocean City, New Jersey.

“I got onto Facebook Live as soon as I could,” said Flowers, 67. “Then the flames erupted and it looked like a full block of the boardwalk was on fire.”

According to a news release from the Ocean City Fire Department, firefighters responded to the 1000 block of the boardwalk at 7:40 a.m. as fire moved through an area that contains Playland’s Castaway Cove, Hamburger Construction Co. and Dairy Queen.

Firefighters, police and public works employees established a three-block perimeter around the blaze while firefighters from seven other area departments assisted in extinguishing the flames. By late Saturday morning, the fire was declared under control, but first responders remained on scene to handle hot spots, according to the release.

The department said none of the buildings was occupied at the time of the fire, and there were no reported injuries.

While the boardwalk does not appear to have suffered any structural damage, the building housing the businesses was extensively damaged, the department said.

The owners of Playland’s Castaway Cove, at 1020 Boardwalk, vowed to rebuild, in a post on Facebook.

“We struggle to comprehend this mornings events and what will be of the next few months, but we can assure you this, WE WILL REBUILD!!” the owners wrote, in part. “We have a secondary entrance that will now be our main entrance for the foreseeable future. We will be open sooner rather than later! For now, hug your loved ones, pray for the first responders and know that we will be back in the spring of 2021!”

As of noon Saturday, more than 1,000 people had shared the post.

Flowers, a real estate agent who has lived in Ocean City for 23 years, said that at one point more than 6,700 people were tuned in to his Facebook Live video of the fire. He said his first thought was of the first responders, who had to battle the blaze in freezing temperatures.

Next, his mind turned to his beloved boardwalk and all it has been through recently, from its closure at the beginning of the tourist season due to the pandemic to the foreclosure of Gillian’s Wonderland Pier, which The Inquirer reported Tuesday.

He hoped every business damaged in the fire will be able to rebuild and was bolstered by news that Playland’s owners had already vowed to do so.

“I have grandkids ranging from 6 months to 12 years old, and we love the Ocean City boardwalk. We’ve been coming here for years, since I was a child,” Flowers said. “I can’t wait till Castaway Cove rebuilds.”

The fire department urged all people to avoid the affected area of the boardwalk and said access will be restored when conditions allow.