This is the Whitfield Hotel as it was being demolished on Jan. 22, 2017. Note the security fence around the property. Photo by Christopher Poverman, Esq. © Click to see the fence better.
Doug Walden signs his emails, “Burned out of 29 Seaview Avenue, Apt D. Ocean Grove, NJ.” He barely escaped with his life. Doug is one of the fire victims who are looking into a law suit regarding that March 3 Warrington fire. After a difficult time—he suffered lung injuries from the smoke and he lost all his possessions—he has now found housing in the Grove and he is trying to get back to his job and recover from the stress of that horrid experience.
Doug is a persistent person who has made it his business to personally participate in investigating this tragedy. In an interview with Blogfinger, Doug mentioned that he believed that the Warrington should have been better secured, in the same way that the Whitfield was, and that effective security fencing could have possibly prevented the fire. He has other concerns as well regarding how that fire might have been prevented
The photograph above was taken by a Spring Laker, Christopher Poverman, Esq. who pointed out that a contractor was working on the Warrington 2 1/2 blocks away when this Whitfield photograph was obtained. I was over there myself watching the workers, and there was no fence isolating the property.
Mr. Poverman asked, “Why wasn’t the Warrington secured like this?”
Neptune Mayor Michael Brantley spoke about the cause of the fire at the May 8 Committee meeting. He said that the fire was “incendiary” and then he said that it was either intentionally caused by an “arsonist” or accidentally set by a “vagrant.” The township lawyer used the word, “vagabond.”
But it seems like the word “incendiary” means intentional. The Mayor’s language, presented in a formal written statement, was confusing, and the investigators at the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office have so far made no formal announcement about the cause of the fire. The Asbury Park Press has avoided reporting on the cause until the investigators have concluded their evaluation so it’s not clear why the Mayor decided to make that statement on May 8, and we don’t know who wrote the text.
We found two definitions online. We do need some official clarification regarding the words to describe the cause of that terrible fire.
- Incendiary – A fire intentionally ignited under circumstances where the person knows the fire should not be ignited.
- Arson – The crime of maliciously and intentionally, or recklessly, starting a fire or causing an explosion.
As I have said before, this is all on the Township! For some reason they let these places become rundown firetraps, then act surprised when another life threatening disaster happens!!
And we are stuck with them; hopefully a lawsuit or arrests will throw them out, because OG doesn’t have any voter clout.
At the time of the 27 Surf Ave. renovation the site was secured by a fence. Unfortunately, the bldg had a temporary heat source for the workers that was reported to be “off” at the time of the fire. It was determined by the fire marshall to be the starting point of that fire. In most places that sort of heater requires a “fire watchman” i.e. someone who checks the heater at regular intervals to assure that it was ,in fact, secure at night. Apparenty,no such rule is in force Neptune. Just the word from a workman that it was shut down at the end of the work day. Also,to my knowledge,no suit was ever filed against the owner for damages. Pain and suffering to the folks who lost their homes etc.is not covered by insurance. There was an indirect loss of life to an elderly neighbor who had a minor injury and passed away shortly after.
Our elected Neptune representatives are to blame. These (Warrington, Surf Hotel, Manchester) are not buildings sitting isolated, surrounded by parking lots (like the old coca cola building at the Asbury circle). They are VERY CLOSE to residences. Thus, Neptune officials should have insisted on:
1. Fencing around the property
2. A secured building with an alarm
3. Proper lighting of the building
4. Video surveillance of the building
(3 and 4 from poles about 25 feet away)
5. Random checks by police (eg once a week at 2 am)
6. If police find poor security and/or squatters heavy fines.
How many more of these fires originating from an unoccupied building “under renovation” will we have? Maybe when people die, Mike and the Misfits (the 5 committee people) will get serious.