The blaze that caused $7 million worth of damage at a bayside condominium complex in Ventnor originated in a car parked under one of the units, fire officials said yesterday.
The fast-moving fire, which broke out shortly before 2 p.m. Friday at the Crown Key Yacht Club condominiums in Ventnor, Atlantic County, destroyed 11 units and damaged five, Ventnor Fire Chief Bert Sabo said. No one was seriously hurt.
"It was a large-scale incident," Sabo said. "I'm told you could see the smoke plume all the way down to Ocean City about eight miles away. It was pretty spectacular."
The condos, largely vacation homes, were mostly unoccupied at the time of the fire.
"We evacuated about three families," he said, "and several of those people escaped only with the clothes on their backs. If the fire had happened a month ago, it would have had real tragic results."
Sabo said the structure was outfitted with sprinklers in the living areas. The garages beneath, however, were not similarly equipped. The building was up to fire code, Sabo said.
Investigators have traced the fire to a Mercedes parked under a unit in the 1900 building, Sabo said.
"We have witness at the scene who said the car alarm was going off, then they saw smoke and then flames," Sabo said.
The six buildings of the bayside condo complex stand on pilings. Garages occupy the ground level.
"The carports are only separated by latticework, so that's why it probably spread so fast, Sabo said. "That and the fact that the wooden siding on the building was extremely dry. It hasn't really rained down here in several weeks."
The cause of the car fire does not appear to be suspicious, he said.
Police have towed the burned-out carcass of the Mercedes to an impound lot, where investigators were scouring it yesterday for what may have caused it to burst into flames, Sabo said.
More than 150 firefighters battled the blaze, some from as far away as Gloucester Township in Camden County. About 10 were treated for heat exhaustion and muscle strain at a local hospital and released. Twenty-five were treated at the scene, Sabo said.
Sabo said that each destroyed unit was valued at about $500,000 and contained about $100,000 worth of personal property.
A mere 10 feet away, the 2000 building narrowly escaped catching fire.
"We were lucky," he said. "Given the wind direction, that fire easily could have spread."
Distributed by the Associated Press
