Fire Destroys Storefront, Apartment Near Hooper and Route 37

A small shop and apartment building that sits on a Route 37 jughandle to Hooper Avenue was destroyed by fire early this morning.

The fully involved fire, just a block away from both major roads at a vacant storefront and a second-floor apartment building, was contained shortly after 12:45 a.m. this morning, officials said.

The building is on the corner of Wright and Division streets near the intersection of Hooper Avenue and Route 37 behind the Dunkin Donuts. Toms River Fire District 1 Chief Sam Seaman pointed out the significant damage caused by a fire that started around 12:18 a.m. Monday.

Traffic was detoured about a block in every direction, closing the Route 37 westbound jughandle to Hooper Avenue southbound, as well as portions of Division, Neal and Wright streets and the shoulder on Hooper Avenue.

Seaman said no injuries were reported and it was unclear whether the apartment had tenants living there or not.

“We haven’t established whether they just weren’t home or if no one was living there,” Seaman said, adding that while electric meters were still on the building, gas meters were not. "It appears as though no one was home."

Crews from Toms River Fire Co. 1 and 2 and East Dover, as well as Island Heights were on the scene with EMS and Toms River Fire Police. At 1 a.m., firefighters were tearing down walls and roof material looking for hot spots as the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention officials arrived to investigate.

While neighboring businesses in the strip mall with Subway were already closed for business for the day, many of the nearby fast food establishments remained open and no nearby homes were evacuated, Seaman said.

The most significant damage to the building was sustained to its front side, formerly a small business shop, a sign company that had closed years ago.

Siding and roofing were completely charred as firefighters climbed the roof and searched through wreckage, overhauling the building of any possible hot spots both inside the facility including its basement, as well as outside to a small fenced-in storage area.

Seaman said two lines of firefighters approached the building with hoses to put out the fire, which had flames visible from outside its first floor windows. 

"The winds were there when they first arrived, with some embers flying, but it's been a tremendously wet day, with all the rain all day," Seaman said.

The fire is under investigation by the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention.