Poor Boys Subs Declared Unsafe After Saturday Morning Fire

by Patricia A. Miller

Fire officials are investigating the cause of a blaze that heavily damaged the Poor Boys Subs store at 708 Fischer Boulevard on Saturday morning.

When the East Dover Fire Company arrived at 9:45 a.m., heavy smoke conditions were already present, said Jim Mercready, director of the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention.

Firefighters attacked the blaze and were able to keep it from spreading to the attic and other tenant spaces in the strip mall. The other tenants were evacuated while the fire was being extinguished, he said.

Toms River Fire Company 1 and 2, the Island Heights Fire Department and the Silverton Fire Department also responded, he said.

The fire is under investigation by the Toms River Bureau of Fire Prevention Inspectors Kevin Esposito and Charles Bauer, the Toms River Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

The other tenants were allowed to return to their units. But the Poor Boys Subs space has been deemed uninhabitable until repairs can be made, Mercready said.