Big fire in Long Branch!

[storminsteve]

They said the whole block went up., Part of where Stevens B&T used to be. Sad.

[jigfreak]

Lots of memories of that place. Brian was real, no bs. the dog was cool too. Unfortunately he lost his lease. Don't feel sorry at all for the new owner. Some kind of greedy landlord.

[finchaser]

I was one of the original Steven's Surfsters when Joe LoPresti and his wife Billy had the shop

[basshunter]

What a shame.

[VSdreams]

http://www.app.com/article/20120213/NJNEWS/302130035/New-photos-Long-Branch-fire-destroys-10-businesses-14-apartments

Long Branch fire finally brought under control

10 businesses lost in spectacular Long Branch blaze

2:31 PM, Feb. 14, 2012 |
http://cmsimg.app.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?NewTbl=1&Site=B3&Date=20120214&Category=MULTIMEDIA02&ArtNo=202140801&Ref=PH&Item=1&Maxw=640&Maxh=410&q=60
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Long Branch, NJ Firefighters and investigators on the scene of a three alarm structure fire on Brighton Ave at Ocean Ave in Long Branch that burned on 2/13/12.

1 of 22
TOM SPADER/ASBURY PARK PRESS
Dustin Racioppi (dracioppi@njpressmedia.com)


and Stephanie Loder





http://bcdownload.gannett.edgesuite.net/asbury/35553589001/35553589001_1450520636001_ari-origin29-arc-152-1329169119333.jpg?pubId=35553589001
(http://www.app.com/VideoNetwork/1450547344001/Aerial-Views-Of-Long-Branch-Fire-2-13-12-)

Aerial Views Of Long Branch Fire (2/13/12): Flames consume buildings along Brighton Avenue in Long Branch. VIDEO COURTESY OF NEWS12



http://cmsimg.app.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=B3&Date=20120213&Category=NJNEWS&ArtNo=302130035&Ref=AR&MaxW=300&Border=0&Long-Branch-fire Zoom (http://javascript<b></b>:void(null);)




HOW TO HELP

To help the victims of the fire, contact the Red Cross at 732-493-9100 or redcross.org, or the Salvation Army at 908-851-9300 or salvationarmynj.org (http://www.salvationarmynj.org/)
Both organizations accept monetary donations to help replenish money spent on relief supplies. Neither organization accepts donations of used clothing.

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Related Links

What's next after massive Long Branch fire? Residents, merchants wondering (http://www.app.com/article/20120214/NJNEWS/302140069)
Three Alarm Fire in Long Branch (http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=B3&Dato=20120213&Kategori=MULTIMEDIA02&Lopenr=202130801&Ref=PH)
Long Branch Brighton Avenue Fire (http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=B3&Dato=20120213&Kategori=MULTIMEDIA02&Lopenr=302130046&Ref=PH)
Long Branch Brighton Avenue Fire II (http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=B3&Dato=20120213&Kategori=MULTIMEDIA02&Lopenr=302130050&Ref=PH)




LONG BRANCH — Fire raged through the West End business district Monday, destroying or damaging 10 businesses and 14 apartments before being brought under control.
One injury was reported; a firefighter suffered a cut lip in battling the stubborn blaze on Brighton Avenue near Ocean Avenue.
More than a dozen tenants were left homeless — some escaping with just the clothes they were wearing — and brought to the Long Branch Senior Center, where they were aided by Red Cross officials. Many had been at work, but others had to be evacuated by firefighters who rushed them to safety.
The cause of the multi-alarm fire was undetermined, and fire officials said they don’t know in which building the fire started. The cause is being investigated by Long Branch Fire Marshal Kevin J. Hayes Sr.
However, Martin Grubman, who owns the building at 59 Brighton Ave., said fire officials told him they believed the fire started in the basement next door at 61 Brighton, a large white building that was home to West End Dance Academy.
“That was my baby,” said Grubman, who bought the brick-frame, three-story building at 59 Brighton in 1985 and rehabilitated it as it faced condemnation. “It's destroyed.’’
More than 100 firefighters from 11 fire companies in Monmouth County responded to the fire call, and many companies expected to remain on the scene until this morning.
The fire was one of the most destructive since the 1987 blaze that ravaged the city pier and its businesses, causing $10 million in damage, fire officials said.
No estimate

It was too early on Monday to even attempt to put a price tag on the West End fire, said Howard H. Woolley, city business administrator.
The fire was reported 10:30 a.m. at the east end of Brighton Avenue, officials said.
Assistant Long Branch Fire Chief Angelo Ciaglia, who was first on the scene, found black smoke “pouring into the street from between two buildings” in the middle of the block.
“It was so bad I immediately called a third alarm,” he said.

[VSdreams]

I was one of the original Steven's Surfsters when Joe LoPresti and his wife Billy had the shop


I did a search online for Stevens Surfsters and found this post here

http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/showthread.php?5735-Legends-of-the-Salt...-Living-Legends-thread/page3
Pretty awesome finchaser, that's a lot of history. You must have great memories from that place.

[DarkSkies]

I was one of the original Steven's Surfsters when Joe LoPresti and his wife Billy had the shop


Nice research VSDreams, thanks for posting and bringing up that thread again. :thumbsup:
The Stevens Surfsters and Stevens B&T were legendary and deserve thier place in Surf Fishing history.

Finchaser has shared some of the stories which I was able to relate there, but there are dozens more.... awesome fish, nights where they had such great action they didn't want to go home (and times where they actually stayed out 2 nights in a row during the tournaments). Hopefully some of these stories can be preserved and told someday in book format and not fade out in wisps of smoke and lost opportunities like was the case of Stevens B&T.....

I talked at length with Brian/Zim (who I understood bought the business from the LoPresti's or their family) when he was closing the shop. The new owner had bought the building, came in, and instantly tripled the rents for the new leases....there was no way that a guy like Brian could afford that...there's only so much bait and retail volume a little B&T like that could produce...and he had to give up the lease and close out the store....http://stripersandanglers.com/Forum/images/icons/icon9.png

Brian had some great deals on the stuff he couldn't keep around anymore....he advertised some of them, and some guys made out like bandits.....

My interest was the weigh-in sheets from the old days, which he had sitting in boxes and no longer had room for......

I made an appointment to pick them up, as I was going to archive them. I felt such history like that should not be thrown out....







Turns out Tommy H beat me to it....:don't know why: :moon:
He got there a few hours before me, Brian wanted them gone, so they went to him...
No hard feelings, as I consider Squidlips :HappyWave: one of the central icons to the NJ surf fishing scene...and as a retired racer, he's a helluva fiberglass boat repairer and does a lot of the side work for some key NJ marinas in his area....:thumbsup:


He took those old weigh ins sheets, and created a thread called "On This Date", where he documents online, all the old catches of the old-timers...some who are still alive, and some whom are no longer with us....
I think it's a beautiful tribute to the old timers, and the way things used to be...

Maybe some of the younger guys don't have an interest in that, as they can't get excited about weigh-ins of 18" fish, but looking at those years of history will give anyone who has an interest, a sense of what striped bass fishing used to be like.....

Google.... Squidlips "On this Date"
to find his thread, and though I'll probably see him in the Spring, if ya happen to bump into him tell him DarkSkies sends his warmest regards...:HappyWave:

And if ya ever get a chance, buy Squidlips a beer, as he has some of the funniest and craziest stories ya ever heard, both on and off the internet....:kooky: :cool: