A Firefighter’s Story

Volunteer firefighting has its dangers. The Sea Girt Fire Company responded in minutes to a call from Morven Terrace in early May, 1992. Bill Lougheran Jr. hurried to the firehouse and was the first to enter the 4 am blaze that started in 716 and spread to 718 & 722 Morven in a heavy ocean wind. It was just down the street from his home on Neptune Place.

Bill was the nozzleman. He entered the home in front of two partners on the hose. When he was about 10 feet into the foyer, he realized that the fire was raging on the floor above him. At the same moment, a backdraft, a ball of fire from something igniting into the air in front of him, blew him back. The second-floor burning debris rained on his head, and the 2,000-degree blast burned the gear off his body and melted skin. After 90 seconds, he staggered out of the building and was helped by an EMT to an ambulance.

150 firefighters from four companies put out the fire, but two buildings were destroyed, and another was heavily damaged. Ten firemen were injured, but none more than Bill. The ambulance took him to Jersey Shore Hospital, where they attempted to stabilize him, and then, still in critical condition, he was transferred to the burn center at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston for 34 days of treatment. Painful skin grafts and hydrotherapy saved his life.

Fire in Manasquan. Heat from a house fire can exceed 2000 degrees and destroy everything

Rather than recover quietly at home, Bill wanted people to know about the dangers of fire. He walked past the burned homes on his way to his dad’s house in the Park at 637 Ocean. (The house with the ornate ironwork and yellow awnings belonged to Bill Loutgeran Sr).

While he was recovering, Bill went to schools with his head wrapped in his bandages to talk about fire prevention. He was featured in an Asbury Park Press series on burn victims and had a photographer shoot his injuries through multiple skin grafts. He wanted kids in Sea Girt and elsewhere to plan exit strategies and help identify fire risks so nothing like this would happen to them.

Bill went on to heal nicely, and 30 years after the Morven fire, he was elected Fire Company Chief in 2021-2022. Cue the confetti and streamers. Bill also excelled in business with his father. Bill Senior had invented a new form of champagne bottle to break safely at celebrations. He also invented a non-flammable mylar tinsel and paper streamers that dissolve in water. Shore Manufacturing became one of the largest manufacturer of celebration novelties in North America out of their Lakewood and then Pennsylvania factory.

Chief Bill Loughran Jr. and Mayor Don Fetzer in 2022

As much as 1992 was filled with pain, 1993 was filled with love and joy as Bill’s wife Karen gave birth to twins Christine and Victoria. “God has given us enough happiness to last a lifetime with these two little angels”, he told the Asbury Park Press.

The Loughran’s luck had changed, but a year later, the Fire Company was reminded again about the dangers of their service. While fighting a fire on Washington Blvd at the Governor’s Court Condominiums, Fireman Glenn Thorne suffered a heart attack and did not recover.

Remember those who volunteer when you hear the call from Baltimore Blvd.

The firestorm was not the only storm. A Nor’easter on December 11, 1992 with 90 MPH winds severely damaged the boardwalk and took out much of Ocean Avenue, and the “temporary pavilion”, built after the 1920s grand pavilion fell in the 1962 gale, was badly damaged. Water filled the low-lying streets in town for four days.

The good news was that media stories and helicopter footage of flooded residents of Sea Bright and other towns helped to solidify the need for long-awaited beach restoration. The State, Monmouth County, and the Federal Government were moved to action. The actual action would take a few more years.