No Determination Made in Belmar Fire, Investigation Continues

Investigations into the cause of a house fire in Belmar on Easter Sunday continued Monday.

"At this point in time, the origin and cause are undetermined," Chris Gramiccioni of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said during a phone interview on Monday evening.

Gramiccioni could neither confirm nor deny whether the incident is being probed as a case of arson, but said his office would complete its determination as expeditiously as possible and release the findings as soon as they become available.

Warm weather Monday brought out onlookers who flocked to 16th Avenue to survey the wreckage left in the wake of the massive blaze.

One home was completely gutted and two others sustained damage when a fire tore through the 100 block of Belmar's 16th Avenue at approximately 9:30 p.m. on Easter Sunday.

Volunteer firefighters from Belmar, with assistance from nearby Avon and Wall Township, brought the blaze under control within an hour and extinguished it soon after.

Neither of the two most severely damaged homes were occupied at the time of the fire and no major injuries were reported, though one Belmar firefighter did suffer a minor hand injury and was treated at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. A lone resident was evacuated from her home at 109 16th Ave., which sustained some heat and smoke damage.

According to the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office, the owner of the home at 111 16th Ave., Gregory A. Sozek of Upper Montclair, had legal proceedings brought against him by mortgage broker The Bank of New York Mellon. 

A judgement was made in the amount of $493,358.86, and the home was scheduled to be sold on May 16.

The property was also classified as a Class I Animal House by the borough as of August 2007. Sozek was at that time ordered to pay the borough $5,000 to be held in bond in accordance with the borough's "Animal House" ordinance.

The municipal ordinance was designed to protect quality of life in neighborhoods with seasonal rentals, by holding both landlords and tenants responsible for noise and other quality of life violations.

Property records show that Sozek and his brother, Kevin, purchased the home together in 1997 with Kevin selling Gregory his share of the property in 1999 for $1.

Kevin Sozek is the sole owner of another, similar Belmar property at 107.5 14th Ave., another seasonal rental. Property records show a home at 114 14th Ave. deeded to a Doris Sozek.

In 2008, Kevin Sozek was the subject of an investigative reporting piece by ABC-7 in New York.

The "7 on Your Side" segment detailed issues between Sovek and a tenant. The tenant, who rented a seasonal home from Sovek, alleged that he had failed to get the home inspected and left her out thousands of dollars. Sovek had also apparently served five days in Monmouth County Jail for renting a home without having it inspected.

Gregory Sovek was interviewed for the segment.