began taking stock. >> there's stores on fire. don't go in. >> don't go in there! >> the fire started here at kohr brother's frozen custard shop. >> it was a little gray smoke, all of a sudden it turned to black smoke. we ran away and turned around again and there was just flames coming out of the building. >> despite firefighters arriving within minutes, the blaze was quickly out of control. by 4:00 p.m. it was a six alarm fire, flames fed by winds up to 25 miles per hour. as the blaze spread north, it engulfed the iconic fun town pier, one of the few structures in left over from sandy. 400 firefighters from 30 fire companies. one bit of luck for a town whose boardwalk was now now completely consumed by flames. >> we're just so grateful for