4-alarm fire breaks out on boardwalk in Ocean City, damaging Playland’s Castaway Cove theme park

OCEAN CITY, New Jersey (WPVI) – A four-alarm fire damaged a block on the Ocean City Boardwalk that includes a popular amusement park.

The Ocean City Fire Department responded to the 1000 block from the promenade at around 7:40 a.m. Saturday.

Arriving fire crews found flames moving quickly through a building structure that includes the arcade and offices of Playland’s Castaway Cove, the Hamburger Construction Company restaurant and Dairy Queen.

A perimeter of three blocks has been established by emergency officials to fight the fire. The Action Cam showed firefighters fighting the flames.

Viewer video captured strong flames and black smoke rising above the promenade. Playland’s Castaway Cove Ferris Wheel vanished as smoke rose. Fire crews could be heard shouting to passers-by, “People, you have to stay back!

Officials said the blaze was under control by the end of Saturday morning, but firefighters remained at the scene in an attempt to extinguish the blaze completely.

Officials said a westerly wind fueled the blaze, but likely spared neighboring buildings. The structural firewalls required between properties also worked effectively, they said.

No one was in the building at the time, and no fire was injured. Officials said responders will be assessed for any injuries related to extreme cold.

The building suffered significant damage. Officials said there does not appear to be any structural damage to the promenade at this time.

Chopper 6 was over the scene around 11 a.m. to monitor the fire damage.

Castaway Cove posted a message on its Facebook page confirming that the amusement park had suffered damage. Officials told guests they would be rebuilding and, for now, they would use a side entrance:

“To our family and our faithful guests, we thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We would like to thank all the first responders for their hard work and pray for their continued safety throughout today’s events. We are struggling to understand this the events of the morning and what the next few months will be like, but we can assure you that we will be rebuilding !! We have a side entrance which will now be our main entrance for the foreseeable future, we will be open ASAP! For now, hug your loved ones, pray for the first responders and know that we will be back in spring 2021! “

People were advised to avoid the area as the response continued into the afternoon. Full access to the walkway portion will be restored when conditions permit, officials said.

Nearby agencies, including the Marmora Volunteer Fire Department, Longport Volunteer Fire Department, Margate Fire Department, Somers Point Fire Department, Tuckahoe Volunteer Fire Company, the Seaville Volunteer Fire Company and Strathmere Volunteer Fire Company provided assistance, as well as police units from Sea Isle City, Egg Harbor Township, Longport, Linwood and Northfield, rescue teams from AtlantiCare and Upper Township, and the Cape May County Regional Urban Research Team (RUST).

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and is still under investigation.