Fire Destroys 12 Trailers, Damages 14 Others at Seaville Campground

SEAVILLE – Twenty-six fire companies and other agencies responded to a fire, April 11, at the Seaville Shores Campground that Roy Blackledge, deputy chief, Seaville Volunteer Fire Company, described as the largest fire Upper Township has seen in 30 years.
A press release posted to the Seaville Fire and Rescue Facebook page said that a dozen recreational trailers were destroyed and another 14 were damaged due to the intense heat.
The management at the campground posted on its Facebook page that the fire knocked out electricity, water service, and the office’s telephone service, but it was working to get it all quickly restored.
The campground set up a temporary number but asked trailer owners not to call unless they had received a call from the campground.
“If you were not called, this means your trailer was not affected,” management said on its Facebook page.
Upper Township issued a press release saying the Seaville fire company, along with the Marmora and Tuckahoe fire companies and the Upper Township Division of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded to the initial alarm of a structure fire at the campground.
When firefighters arrived, they found multiple seasonal campers fully involved with multiple others catching fire.
According to the press release, there were multiple explosions and jetting of propane tanks and intense heat and smoke that, at times, were blocking out the sunlight.
Firefighters said the blaze was so intense, it caused damage to many trailers over 100 feet from the fire. Embers spread fire to wooded areas in multiple locations and ended up burning over two acres of woods. The woods fires were handled by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.
This section of the township is not serviced by hydrants and all water needed to be supplied to the fire scene by tanker trucks. The fire quickly grew to four alarms, requiring the Cape May and Atlantic counties tanker task force to be activated.
The fire was under control after three hours, but the Seaville fire company was on the scene until about 10:11 p.m., assisting the investigation and controlling and searching for hot spots.
The fire is under investigation by the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s and New Jersey Fire Marshal’s offices.
One firefighter was transported to Shore Medical Center for evaluation and was released a short time later. There were no civilian injuries reported from the fire.
Over 100 firefighters responded to the scene.
Blackledge said firefighting operations were hampered by intense heat, the fire causing its own winds, and the need to use tankers for water supply.
The following fire companies responded to the scene to provide manpower, station cover, and tanker support:
Ocean View Fire, Ocean City Fire, Dennisville Fire, Belleplain Fire, Cape May Court House Fire, Rio Grande Fire, Villas Fire, Dorothy Fire, Cumberland Fire, Richland Fire, Heislerville Fire, Somers Point Fire, Scullville Fire, Pomona Fire, Bargaintown Fire, New Jersey Air National Guard 177th Fighter Wing Fire, Bayville Fire, Atlantic City International Airport Fire, Oceanville Fire, Laureldale Fire, Absecon Fire, Port Republic Fire, Elwood Fire, South Egg Harbor Fire, New Jersey Forest Fire Service, and New Jersey State Police.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com.