At least two homes are destroyed and three others sustain substantial damage. About 20 people are displaced by the fire, a dozen of them from the homes that were completely destroyed. One firefighter was injured.

By BRIDGET MURPHY
Staff Writer, (609) 272-7257

ATLANTIC CITY — A three-alarm blaze burned through a row of attached, three-story brick homes on Atlantic Avenue Thursday, devastating almost an entire block.

At least two homes were completely destroyed. Three more dwellings sustained heavy damage on the eight-building block between Rhode Island and Vermont avenues in the Inlet section of the city.

Firefighters got the call for help at 1:35 p.m., Battalion Chief Jim Herbert said. Eight minutes later, a second alarm was called, followed by a third alarm at 1:50 p.m.

Six fire engines and three ladder trucks responded, and two shifts of firefighters were called back to work.

More than 50 firefighters battled the blaze, attacking it from the front, from behind and from inside the buildings. It took more than an hour to bring the fire under control. Acting Deputy Chief John E. Johnson commanded the effort, officials said.

"We know it's a devastating fire," Fire Investigator Rich Johnson said at 6 p.m., as firefighters continued to douse two buildings at the center of the block. "We want to call it accidental. We're looking at it as an electrical fire, an electrical surge short."

At least 20 people were displaced by the blaze, and about a dozen of those victims were left with no home to return to. Fire officials estimated the damages at $500,000.

At 3 p.m., an unidentified firefighter, conscious and upright with a blanket over his legs, was taken to an ambulance for medical attention.

One dog and at least one cat died in the fire, and another cat suffered burned lungs. Medics tried to save the gray and white cat, belonging to block residents Police Officer Joe LaTorre and his wife Ruth, after laying it near the bumper of a fire engine in the middle of Atlantic Avenue. They pressed on the feline's chest and fed it oxygen through tubes before it was taken away for more medical attention.

The fire began at 317 Atlantic Avenue, the home of Robert Smith.

The 43-year-old man, a valet driver at Harrah's Atlantic City, has lived in the building his entire life. Michael and Debbie Smith, his brother and sister-in-law, live next-door with their four sons, ages 3 through 14.

With her sons safely on the sidewalk, Debbie Smith called her brother-in-law at work and told him to come home just before 2 p.m., as firefighters attacked the flames that shot out of his roof and second-story and then, third-story windows, melting the awning hanging over his front porch.

Several residents said an electrical surge happened just before they smelled smoke, with TVs making a booming sound and light bulbs flickering on and off. Sparks flew from a transformer box high on a Rhode Island Avenue utility pole, others said.

"I guess I'm starting from scratch," said Robert Smith, watching as his roof collapsed. "My animal was in there. My dog."

Homeowners Mary Beth and Tim Triplett, who moved into 313 Atlantic Avenue two days ago, watched from the sidewalk with hundreds of other people as their newly purchased home, with the "Sold" sign still affixed to the front porch, also was destroyed.

"We bought this house to retire," Tim Triplett said, as the couple's three sons, ages 5 through 15, stood with their parents.

Triplett was returning home from Philadelphia just after 1:30 p.m. when he saw smoke.

"I ran into the Chinese (food) place and called them to call 911," he said, as other people began arriving at the scene, frantically searching for family members.

Diane Royal, 45, had tears streaming down her cheeks when she found her son Darryl Royal, 28, who shares an apartment on the block with his girlfriend, Vanessa Tyson, 29.

"He's all I got," Royal said, still crying while clinging to her son.

Francisco Roman, 48, stood on the street in bare feet and a pair of shorts. The Showboat Casino-Hotel worker ran from his apartment when he saw the smoke.

"I lost everything. Everything's wet. The roof's coming down," he said.

"Day in and day out I have put my heart and soul into this business," said Noel Feliciano, the owner of One Stop Bait and Tackle, a business on the first floor of one of the burned buildings. "I can't believe it's gone — in one second, my entire livelihood was wiped out."

As firefighters battled the blaze, more than 100 spectators, including Mayor James Whelan, Police Chief Arthur Snellbaker and dozens of city employees, gathered to watch the Fire Department's efforts.

About a dozen spectators watched from the top of the Absecon Lighthouse. Others looked at the blaze from Lighthouse Plaza Apartment balconies, across the street from the fire. Police officers cordoned off the scene and kept traffic from driving within several blocks of the scene, while keeping an eye on the crowd's safety.

Spectator Tammy Richer marveled at firefighters' efforts. "It's exhausting just watching it," she said.

As the last ladder and engine companies worked to put out lingering hot spots in the fire, block residents gathered across the street, comforting each other.

Looking heartbroken, Officer LaTorre carried a family pet that perished in the blaze down the street to Animal Control officers.

A few minutes before, Fire Battalion Chief Dennis Brooks carried Robert Smith's dog, Penny, a beagle, out to the family wrapped in a flowered sheet. Smith was too upset to look.

"He was a good dog. He really was," said Debbie Smith, his sister-in-law.

(Staff writer Jeremy Olshan contributed to this report.)

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