Fire Crews Battle Wildwood Restaurant Blaze

WILDWOOD – At approximately 1:45 p.m. May 18, Squad Co. 3 and North Wildwood FD Quint Co. 2 were dispatched to 4701 Pacific Ave., at the Key West Café, for the report of a fire.
According to a release, upon Squad Co. 3’s arrival, smoke and fire were visible from the second-floor front deck area of the three-story mixed-use building. Wildwood Fire Chief Ernie Troiano requested that the incident be upgraded to a full first alarm assignment, which recalls off-duty firefighters and brings additional resources from the Wildwood Crest, Rio Grande and Stone Harbor fire departments. 
Firefighters located the fire burning inside the exterior wall and deck of the balloon framed building.  Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire, preventing serious damage to the interior of the building. There was minor smoke and water damage to the interior of the restaurant, on the first floor, and to the apartments above.
There were no injuries to firefighters or civilians.  The fire is under investigation by the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office.  Fire department units operated on the scene for approximately one hour.