WILDWOOD – The Wildwood Fire Departments’ Squad Co. 3, under the command of Capt. Rob Feltwell, and North Wildwood Fire Department’s Ladder Co. 2 were dispatched to a motel in the 5000 block New Jersey Avenue around 4:54 p.m. May 23, for the report of an activated fire alarm and smell of smoke.
According to a release, upon arrival of Wildwood Police Department officers, they advised that there was smoke showing from the two-story occupied motel. Motel guests were quickly evacuated from the premises.
Upon Squad Co. 3’s arrival, firefighters found a working fire in a utility room on the first floor of the motel. The alarm was upgraded to a first alarm assignment, which recalls off-duty firefighters and brings additional resources from the Wildwood Crest, Rio Grande and Stone Harbor fire departments.
Squad Co. 3 conducted an aggressive interior attack and quickly extinguished the fire. There was a minor extension to the room above on the second floor that was quickly extinguished, as well.
Due to the quick knockdown of the fire, the incident was scaled back and held with Squad Co. 3 and Ladder Co. 2.
There were no injuries during the fire, and damage is estimated at $15,000.
The fire was investigated by the Cape May County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Wildwood City Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit and determined to be accidentally caused by carelessly discarded smoking materials.
Fire units operated on the scene for just over an hour.
