Jun 5, 2009 7:15 pm US/Eastern
Massive Fire Destroys Popular NJ Bowling Alley
SHREWSBURY, N.J. (CBS) ―
A raging fire consumed a bowling alley at the heart of a New Jersey community on Friday morning. The blaze broke out just after 11 a.m. at Memory Bowling on Newman Springs Road in Shrewsbury. The bowling alley had been a fixture in the town for decades.
Neighbors couldn't believe their eyes as the raging fire tore through the building.
"I've never witnessed anything like this in my life," said Sarah LeBlanc, a Shrewsbury resident.
The powerful blaze sent flames and plumes of black smoke high into the sky after it broke out in the ceiling of the building. Owner Alex Melamudov made the horrifying discovery himself.
"I heard crackling so I thought the roof was leaking from the rain and then I saw little red flashes in the ceiling," he told CBS 2.
He quickly evacuated all patrons, including a group of children celebrating a birthday party and a group of senior. He then tried to get the best of the flames with a fire extinguisher, but the fire was quickly gaining strength and getting more dangerous by the second.
"When I was doing the fire extinguishing the melting tiles were dropping on me," he told CBS 2. "So when it started dropping on me, I got everybody out of the building, grabbed whatever I could until I couldn't see where we were going."
And even as firefighters began to battle the blaze the situation only got worse.
"When they vented the roof you could see like a vacuum sucking air up and the whole roof came up and almost exploded," said Melamudov.
Even those who weren't at the front lines of the unfolding disaster were terrified.
"I have to admit I was scared to death," said LeBlanc.
Miraculously, everyone managed to get out of the building safely.
"We got the kids out, I got my guys out I'm happy for that," said Melamudov.
But the heartbreak of watching his beloved business go up in flames was almost too much for Melamudov to bear.
"This is one of the oldest bowling alleys in the country," he said, before walking off in tears.
Melamudov said he was expecting 45 pre-K kids to arrive just minutes before the fire broke out, but luckily they didn't show up.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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