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Flag store burns on Ocean City boardwalk
OCEAN CITY, N.J. - The owner of a boardwalk flag store was pulled from a smoky fire in his shop yesterday afternoon by a passing bicyclist and employees of Johnson's Popcorn, according to police and witnesses.
Smoke filled the Flags & Specialty Gifts store - whose interior was reduced to a charred rubble - and the iconic Johnson's next door on the boardwalk near 14th Street, Johnson's employees said.
James Schatzle, 72, was taken to Shore Memorial Hospital and was expected to be released last night, according to Ocean City Police Lt. Steven Ang. Schatzle's vehicle registration lists him as a resident of Palm Beach, Fla., Ang said.
The one-alarm fire was still being investigated, he said. The fire was put out quickly, but personnel remained on the scene for hours.
The fire was noticed about 1 p.m. by a man on a bicycle, according to employees of Johnson's, adjacent to the flag store in the 1300 block of the boardwalk.
"I was working when a customer yelled, 'There's a fire!,' " said a Johnson's employee, who, like her coworkers, did not want to be identified. "She said, 'A man's down.' "
The Johnson's employees, who waited in the parking lot behind the businesses after the fire was put out, said they discovered Schatzle facedown in the shop, which was filled with black smoke. The store's front is mostly open to the boardwalk.
"The fire was small, but not approachable," said a 22-year-old employee. Schatzle, who witnesses said was heavyset, "was 10 feet from the front exit. People started pulling him out."
With help from the Johnson's workers, the bicyclist, and another passerby, Schatzle was pulled to the boardwalk and put on his back. He was conscious but "seemed to be in pain," the 22-year-old said.
Schatzle's store was in a building owned by Bob's Grille, which also occupies the structure. Johnson's and the flag store share a back hallway, and the smoke from the fire "blew right into" Johnson's, said the popcorn-shop employee.
"Our store was all full of smoke," said another.
Schatzle's business was only open for a few hours a day, the Johnson's employee said. The building has a for-sale sign on it. A woman who answered a telephone call to a number on the sign declined to comment.
Contact staff writer Amy S. Rosenberg at 609-823-0453 or arosenberg@phillynews.com.
