Atlantic City loses 4 homes to fire along the bay at Annapolis Ave. Foley says 8 units unlivable

An early morning fire Wednesday has displaced 22 residents from an Atlantic City housing unit on the bay.
The location of the fire made getting water on the flames
difficult.

The fire called in at 1:43 a.m. required “all hands” of the
Atlantic City Fire Department to respond to 

Annapolis Ave.

, according to Fire Chief Dennis Brooks.

Brooks said the first housing unit located at 

151 North Annapolis Ave.

, was fully involved and flames were spreading to units two, three and four. The fire spread over the roof, according to Brooks.

On Wednesday morning, Chief of Emergency Services and Director of Emergency Management Tom Foley told WOND Morning Host Don Williams 1400 a.m. that eight units are not livable due to the fire. He also said that one firefighter fell into the bay while fighting the fire.

The department said 22 people were displaced by the fire but a final count is still pending.
Brooks added that all the residents were accounted for and they were being assisted by the American Red Cross.

No firefighters or residents were injured or burned in the fire. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, according to Brooks.

“We are still waiting for the arson unit to arrive,” he said.

Brooks said he asked for a fire boat for this location last year but the budget did not yet allow for it. He said the distance from fire hydrants to the hard to reach back portions of the homes posed a problem in the fire. He also said that he would like to see the private company Sea Tow employed to put out fires close to the bay.

Sea Tow has offered to buy a boat and provide a captain to assist in fire in Atlantic City and the surrounding bay areas, according to Foley.

“A fireboat would have worked well in this situation,” said Brooks. “SeaTow has a fire boat.”  Smoke was still billowing from the burned out shell of the buildings at 4 a.m., and fire crews are expected to remain on the scene in case any embers flare up again.

Brooks said he remembered coming to this exact location for a fire before. He added that at that time, people were jumping off of the balconies to save their lives. He said he remembered when the building was constructed, about 30 years ago.

“Yeah, we’ve been here before, said Brooks” “People were jumping to save themselves.”

While all of the ACPD’s resources were at the 

Annapolis Avenue

 fire, other cities covered the rest ofAtlantic City in case another fire broke out.