Crime & Safety

Seagull Drive Fire Took Down Neighbor's Shed

Cause of fire is still under investigation by the Ocean County Fire Marshal

When you drive down Seagull Drive in Lanoka Harbor you’ll see homes festively decorated for the holidays with lights and candy canes; that is, until you hit a home with its entire rear melted.

A home at 912 Seagull Drive was left uninhabitable after a blaze spread from the shed on Tuesday evening.

“We were home making dinner when we saw the flames. It was sad,” neighbor Michelle Carbone said. Carbone heard popping noises and saw two residents, who rent the home, pacing back and forth outside.

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Carbone went to call 911 when she realized an emergency vehicle was already across the street, she said.

“It just got real busy,” she said. “Everyone came out of the woodwork.”

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The Carbones offered to have the residents of 912 Seagull Drive stay at their home temporarily but the owner lives in Toms River and they had friends and family locally.

Mary and Rick Straffe, residents of 910 Seagull Drive, were not home when they received a phone call that their house was on fire. Fortunately for them, it wasn’t, but they sustained damage do to the neighboring blaze.

“We were both at work,” Mary Straffe said. Luckily the wind was blowing in the opposite direction of their home, she said.

The fire next door had engulfed their shed and damaged their tiki bar.

“It was like oh my God, Rick’s perfect shed,” Mary Straffe said. The couple had just purchased a snow blower and put it in the shed to prepare for the winter season. Also gone are her grandparent’s tools, among other items.

“It’s just stuff,” she said. “Everything can be replaced. At least everyone was safe.”

The Straffe’s had also just purchased a new trampoline for their grandchildren’s Christmas gift, she said. The family will still be holding their Christmas celebration at their home, as the trampoline was out of reach of the fire.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Ocean County Fire Marshal. Mary Straffe continues to communicate with her insurance provider but a check is already in the mail to replace their fence and clean the area up, she said.

Straffe has not heard from her neighbors but said the owner is a resident of Toms River. The home is currently covered with a blue tarp.


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