When will Big SNOW at the NJ Meadowlands reopen?

EAST RUTHERFORD — Big SNOW at the American Dream entertainment and shopping complex in the Meadowlands may need until Halloween to recover from a fire.

Nearly a dozen department responded to the fire at the top of the indoor ski slope around 4:15 a.m., according to State Police. No one there at the time of the fire.

The ski area, which is owned by New Jersey-based SNOW Operating, said that the damage was contained to a small area.

Maintenance teams were able to keep the temperature at 28 degrees to minimize the snowpack melt. But there's still a lot of work in order to reopen, Big SNOW wrote on its Facebook page.

"We have now begun the steps to move towards reopening, which includes: cleaning, repairing, replacing and re-inspecting those items affected by the fire," Big SNOW said. "To allow this work to happen, we will need to extend our closure several more weeks and will be refunding all pre-purchased visits through October 31st as a precaution."

Those who are holding tickets will automatically be refunded.

A preliminary investigation revealed that the fire has been deemed non-suspicious at this time, according to State Police.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ