Shannon Mullen

@MullenAPP

TUCKERTON - A local business lay in ruins Saturday after a pre-dawn explosion blamed on a propane gas leak obliterated a roadside food trailer.

There were no injuries, but little remained of the Fuggettoboutit Lunch Wagon at North Green Street and Railroad Avenue besides twisted pieces of debris. The scene lent a somber irony to the business' name: A few items were being salvaged, it appeared, but not much else.

A preliminary investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, working in conjunction with the borough's police and fire departments, points to propane gas flowing through an oven which ignited when a refrigerator recycled.

The resulting explosion, shortly before 4:40 a.m., could be heard as far as two miles away and shattered windows in at least eight homes in the neighborhood, Borough Police Chief Michael Caputo said. Heavy double doors from the trailer, each weighing about 100 pounds, were sent flying across North Green Street, he said. The two-lane roadway remained closed for about five hours.

"There was debris all over the place," the chief said. "The trailer was no more. It just blew it completely apart."

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The blast rousted nearby residents from their beds.

“It was 4:38 according to my one clock that fell off the wall and broke,” said Angie Downs, who lives across the street.

Her neigbor, Brian Overton, had a hard time getting downstairs to see what was going on because there was shattered glass and dishes knocked from his wall blocking his path.

“I thought it was a plane crash, my son thought it was lightning, and my wife thought it was an earthquake,” Overton said.

It could have been worse, his wife said. The bread delivery man doesn't normally stop at the popular hot dog and sandwich stand until a bit later in the morning, and the Kangaroo Kourt preschool a short distance away wasn't open at the time, she noted.

“Thank God it didn’t happen during the day because there would have been 50 kids out there playing and customers eating,” said Sue Ellen Overton. “It could have been really bad.”

The prosecutor's office said the trailer was owned by Joseph DePaolo, who was leasing the business out to Robert Felicino. Both men were at the scene Saturday morning and declined comment other than to say that a propane gas leak was to blame. Felicino told investigators the trailer was in good shape and had been inspected by the Health Department within the past week. He also told investigators that he normally doesn't turn off the propane when the stand is closed, the prosecutor's office said.

Shannon Mullen: 732-996-6921; smullen4@gannettnj.com