Early Morning Fire Sets Off Ammunition Cache In Toms River: Police

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An early morning fire Thursday in a Water Street building where 100,000 rounds of ammunition were stored displaced seven businesses, Toms River police said.

Police and fire units were alerted to a smoke condition at 94 E. Water St. about 3:30 a.m. Thursday, said Ralph Stocco, spokesman for the Toms River Police Department.

Officers Adam Carey and Adam Worth, who arrived first, saw smoke coming from the northeast side of the building, Stocco said. As they and firefighters approached the building, they could hear continuous small explosions inside the structure, Stocco said.

It was later determined the explosions were from ammunition; the building's owner is a competitive shooter had about 100,000 rounds stored in the building, Stocco said.

The fire was under control at 5:30 a.m., Stocco said. There were no injuries reported.

The cause has not been determined, but a joint investigation by Toms River Detectives Thomas DiMichele and Roger Hull, Toms River Fire Prevention Investigators Dominick Roselli and John Novak, Ocean County Prosecutor's Office Arson Investigator Detective Thomas Haskell, and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department CSI Division, is continuing, he said.

Firefighters from Toms River Fire Companies 1 and 2, East Dover, Silverton, Pleasant Plains, and Island Heights responded, along with Toms River EMS, Toms River Volunteer EMS and Silverton Volunteer EMS, Stocco said.

The displaced businesses are Seaport Yacht Sales; Kathleen W. Hughes, LCSW; In Touch Massage Therapy; NJ Warehouseman & Movers Association; Mindful Solutions NJ; Soul-Centered Healing; and NTS Drywall, Stocco said.

Fire at 94 E. Water St. Photo by Officer Walter Herman, Toms River Police Department