The cause of the massive blaze the engulfed the Warrington Hotel Friday and surrounding buildings is still unknown.
NEPTUNE TOWNSHIP - About a dozen people lined up on Beach Avenue Saturday morning near the site of a massive five-alarm fire the day before.
Bundled up and carrying various types of bags -- one person had a roll of black garbage bags -- the La Pierre condo residents waited to be escorted one-by-one to their damaged units in the charred and water-soaked building.
They were told they had 15 minutes to get their essentials.
"It was intense," Kerry Kramer said of the massive fire. Her condo faced the former vacant hotel that was reduced to rubble Friday morning. Sheetrock, pink insulation and other building debris lie strewn across the floor of her condo and on furniture, she said. Part of the ceiling was caved in.
The cause of the massive blaze that engulfed the vacant Warrington Hotel Friday, damaging surrounding buildings, is still unknown. Fire officials are expected to be on scene Saturday to continue to investigate the blaze that started around 5 a.m. Friday and tore through buildings on Lake and Seaview avenues for hours before local firefighters got it under control.
The hotel, which has been in Ocean Grove since the late-1800s, had been vacant for years but it was set to be refurbished into a 20-room boutique hotel.
About 40 families were displaced, officials said. But the Ocean Grove community and other local businesses have chipped in to help those affected, the residents said.
"Asbury has been a big support," Kramer said. The Asbury Hotel had offered rooms to residents but many were staying with family or friends.
Locke & Shade has started a clothing drive, and the Wonder Bar was collecting food for the condo owners' animals.
The La Pierre residents were let in briefly on Friday but some said they couldn't find their cats, which were lost amidst the commotion as firefighters broke down doors and windows to run hoses through the four-story building.
Scene of the Ocean Grove fire today @njdotcom https://t.co/cBX9wQBYdr pic.twitter.com/TBS8e2loel
-- Craig McCarthy (@createcraig) March 4, 2017
Lisa Frye, who lives on the top floor, was whistling for her two cats and checking the bushes around the building Saturday morning.
"I was on my hands and knees looking for our cats (in the condo)," Frye said. "I couldn't find them."
Kramer had found her 6-year-old Tonkinese cat hiding in the closet of her condo.
Two firefighters were injured fighting the blaze, but all the residents in The Marlborough and La Pierre buildings got out safely.
"At least I am able to get in," said Timothy Puff, who lived on the ground-level of the building. Puff said most of his furniture was only damaged by water since he lived on the side farthest away from the fire.
"I am going to get some clothes, electronics and other things that mean something," he said.
Craig McCarthy may be reached at CMcCarthy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @createcraig and on Facebook here. Find NJ.com on Facebook.