By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – An early evening apartment fire Saturday, June 18 caused severe damage to a building abutting the Sack-O-Subs restaurant and caused the evacuation of the Ventnor Square Theater on the 5200-block of Ventnor Avenue. No injuries were reported, but a family was displaced and is seeking rental housing.
Full details of the fire are pending a report from the Ventnor City Fire Department.
Commissioner of Public Safety Tim Kriebel said the fire rendered a portion of the building unsafe and it is in the process of being demolished.
Kriebel said the restaurant, which closed for a time and recently reopened under the management of a member of the Sacco family, shares a common wall with the building housing a restaurant on the first floor and an apartment on the second floor where the fire started. Cause of the fire is under investigation at this time.
Kriebel said all Ventnor City Fire Department units responded to the scene, along with firefighters and apparatus from Atlantic City, Margate and Longport.
The Ventnor City Police Department closed streets for four blocks in each direction to allow access for numerous fire apparatus and equipment needed to fight the fire.
The Ventnor Square Theater, which is separated from the building by a driveway and parking lot, was evacuated and closed for the remainder of the day, while firefighters brought the blaze under control before it spread to adjacent properties.
Theater owner Brett DeNafo said there is no damage reported to the theater building at this time, but the parking lot will not be accessible for several days.
“We are open today and will honor any tickets for yesterday’s shows,” he said. “If the wind was blowing in a different direction, it would have been quite different and we could have had a lot of smoke damage. Thank God, that didn’t happen.”
Nucky’s Speakeasy and concessions will also be open Sunday.
Members of the Ventnor NJ Community Forum are organizing a clothing and fundraising drive for the displaced family. Their most urgent need is rental housing.
More information will be posted as information becomes available.
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