After faulty wiring was blamed for the tragic fire on the Seaside Boardwalk, other shore towns are making sure their promenades are up to snuff.

Michael Loccisano, Getty Images
Michael Loccisano, Getty Images
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When the official cause of the fire was announced Tuesday, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato warned a fire caused by faulty wiring could happen to other shore towns.

"We had a major storm and obviously wiring could be affected," he said.

Point Pleasant Beach mayor Vincent Barrella said that, even though, all electrical systems were tested after the storm, he is heeding the prosecutor's words and having borough engineers work with Jersey Central Power and Light crews to make sure they didn't miss anything.

"I'm confident, but given Mr. Coronato's rational for the fire we would have to look, make sure, and double check," Barrella said.

Belmar, which completely rebuilt its boardwalk after the storm, is much more confident about its promenade's safety.

"Without being too bold, we don't believe we will ever have a situation similar to Seaside because everything has been replaced," says Belmar mayor Matt Doherty. "By having brand new wiring put to modern code and standards, significantly reduced the odds of a fire like that."

Barrella points out that while he is confident about the safety of his borough's boardwalk, nothing is completely certain. He says he can't account for every wire under his boardwalk.

Doherty says they were able to avoid the rat's nest of wiring with their new construction.

"Today, it's all done inside conduits, it's protected from the elements, and it is accessible. But that's not something we did smarter than anyone else, that's just modern code and standards."

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