Two people were hurt and multiple homes were evacuated after a fire spread to a fuel tank and fishing boat in Sea Isle City, New Jersey, Sunday afternoon, sending large plumes of smoke into the air.
Sea Isle City firefighters responded to a report of a structure fire on 371 43rd Place at 12:18 p.m. When they arrived they found a shed engulfed in flames. The fire spread to a fuel tank and commercial fishing boat in the water.
"I could see smoke and then I got to the bridge and I turned and looked at my place and couldn't even believe and I was like, 'Wow, all my stuff is on fire,'" Carmen Conti, the owner of the shed and fishing boat, told NBC10.
Conti's cooler, forklift and fuel tank inside the shed were badly burned during the blaze.
"It's your life, you know? It's how you make your living and now it's just a wreck," Conti said.
Neighboring homes were evacuated as officials with the Cape May County Fire Marshal's Office as well as firefighters from Sea Isle, Ocean City, Seaville, Avalon, Strathmere and Ocean View battled the flames. The fire was quickly placed under control.
Two people suffered minor injuries and an adjacent home sustained exterior heat damage.
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"All I could see was horrendous black smoke," Carol Nicastro, who lives inside the home, told NBC10. "I think that's when I must have inhaled it."
Nicastro said responding police officers carried her down from the third floor during the fire. She credits them with saving her life and is recovering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
"The one minute you think you're baking cookies and the next minute the police are dragging you out of the house," she said.
The incident was one of several recent fires that have occurred in Sea Isle City. The difficulty for neighboring fire departments to access the city has led to debate about whether it needs more than just a volunteer department.
Officials continue to investigate the cause.
