Seaside Fire Coverage

I was working in Island Heights (on 9/12/13) when I heard the news about the fire... I had my camera in my truck so on the way home a little after 3 I decided to drive by to see what was going on... The closer I got the more obvious there was something very wrong, the wind from the south was fueling this fire and there was an intense plume of black smoke being carried north down the beach... I didn't want to park too close and be in the way so I found a spot on Rt 35 and walked east to get closer down Lincoln Ave... The closer I got the more I realized this was going to be bad and it was getting out of control fast... Firefighters from multiple townships were showing up to help but they were already having trouble keeping up with the water supply... I noticed stacks of curled up black hoses being setup and my guess is that they needed to start pumping water out from the bay to keep up with the fire... The whole time I was there the wind was blowing from the south to the north and although it was fueling the fire it was not blowing west where it could have easily caused the blaze to jump the road and spread to the homes and businesses off the boardwalk as well... I was right on the corner of Lincoln and Ocean Ave taking my first set of pictures but when the firefighters started moving in I decided to give them room and moved back and found a balcony of a motel a couple buildings down on Lincoln... This is where I got some of the best shots of the fire but after 10 minutes of being there I started to feel the heat blowing towards me... I wanted to stay for more coverage but I had to leave to go to back to school night so i made the tough decision to make my way home and pray that all the brave men and women fighting this inferno would be home safe and also have the ability to get this mess under control... 

I also took a short video I posted it on youtube, here is the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RutkFwVBeL8&feature=c4-overview&list=UUkN6OHn7qqFIZuXxnRTDQVA

Bob Alberding