Asbury Park fire: Former city official died searching for his wife, friends say

Show Caption Hide Caption Fire hits Asbury Park condos on Park Avenue A fire swept through condo units on Park Avenue, between 6th and 7th Avenue, in Asbury Park.

ASBURY PARK - Former Asbury Park city official James Famularo was searching for his wife when he collapsed and died in a fire that broke out in his Park Avenue home Monday, his wife told friends.

The death of Famularo, 52, a former Asbury Park assistant city manager, has stunned many, who described him as a fixture in the community who sought to improve youth recreation facilities, coached kids in multiple sports and personally paid for their sneakers and uniforms.

"He treated us like sons and brothers. He wouldn’t see you hungry. He wouldn’t see you down and out," said Stephen Williams, whom Famularo mentored as a child.

"Nobody is perfect, but he damn sure had a perfect effort in everything he did."

Community organizers are planning a vigil for Famularo at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Donald Hammary Community Courts on Prospect Avenue, which he helped refurbish. The Rev. Nicolle Harris, an Asbury Park resident and the pastor of the Price Memorial AME Zion Church in Atlantic City, said people close to the Famularo family contacted her and asked her to organize the event.

Harris said the vigil will be a chance for the community to celebrate and reflect on his life and support his family. Organizers are asking attendees to bring blue and black balloons — the colors of Asbury Park schools — and candles.

"It’s about his family and supporting them and supporting the community," she said. "I think we’re all just kind of leaning on each other right now."

Famularo’s wife, Shonna, was the first to notice the smoke in the family’s three-story townhouse, said Darryl Hammary, a lifelong friend of James Famularo, who said he spoke to Shonna on Monday at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

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Famularo went down to the first floor, where investigators say the fire started in a den. He yelled up to Shonna, on the second floor, to call 911, Hammary said.

The smoke was already so thick that Shonna couldn’t see anything, but managed to find her way onto the second-floor balcony, Hammary said. There, she jumped to the ground below, breaking her leg and ankle in the process, he said. She was expected to undergo surgery Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters found Famularo’s body in a third-floor bedroom. Hammary said Shonna told him she believes her husband ran upstairs to find her after not being able to find her on the second floor.

"No man in America is going to leave a burning house without his wife," Hammary said.

Famularo, who was devoted to his wife and two sons, certainly wouldn’t do that, friends said.

Asbury Park Fire Chief Kevin Keddy said the fire damaged a total of four units in a row of condominiums just blocks from the beach on Park Avenue. Keddy described the damage to Famularo's unit as "pretty catastrophic" and said the inferno was able to leap over the top of fire stops and spread into units on either side.

Earlier: Asbury Park fatal townhouse fire ruled accidental; 'Catastrophic' damage to one unit

Earlier: Ex-Asbury Park official dies after blaze torches three-story townhouse on Park Avenue

The fire was ruled accidental, according to Christopher Swendeman, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

About 60 firefighters from Asbury Park, Neptune, Wanamassa, Glendola and Long Branch battled the blaze at its height, which you can see in the video at the top of this story.

Keddy said fire crews were forced to cut into the roof to stanch the spread of the flames, which had engulfed all three floors of the townhouse, and were able to bring the fire under control within about 45 minutes.

Keddy said the department was frustrated by Famularo's death, but "did everything they could." He said he knew Famularo from his various roles in city government and community leadership.

"He loved his city," Keddy said of Famularo. "He was very loyal to Asbury Park."

Famularo grew up in Asbury Park, earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration at the University of Pittsburgh and later returned to the city to get involved in city government and community organizing, friends and colleagues said.

The Rev. Warren Hall, the pastor of the Deliverance Temple church on Prospect Avenue, said he was a friend and mentor to Famularo, who attended his church. Hall said Famularo was a "hero" who touched the lives of many young people in Asbury Park as a longtime community leader and a Pop Warner youth football coach.

"He championed great causes and great things," Hall said. "What made him a hero in my eyes is that through all of the challenges that a young African-American male can face, he met every challenge in his life and overcame those challenges."

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Adrienne Sanders, the president of the Asbury Park/Neptune NAACP who served with Famularo on the city school board for several years in the 1990s, said she remembers Famularo tried to “change the paradigm” of education in Asbury Park, pushing for more black teachers and administrators at a time when the school’s majority black population was served by predominantly white teachers, principals and school board members.

"James was a dynamic young man. He was a visionary," she said. "He wanted to change the narrative of the African-American community in Asbury Park. He really believed that we as an African-American community are equal and deserving of equality, resources, economics and leadership. I will always admire James for that."

Friends say Famularo was never fully given the credit he was due for his work on behalf of Asbury Park. As Asbury Park school board president, Famularo backed renovations of the school's 1920s-era football stadium.

But those renovations sparked controversy among neighbors, which led to a criminal investigation. A jury found no wrongdoing by Famularo.

Felicia Simmons, a former Asbury Park school board member, said Famularo’s fingerprints can be seen over all parts of Asbury Park, from the revitalization of Cookman Avenue to improvements to the city’s youth recreation programs such as the PAL Boxing & Fitness Center and the revamped the basketball courts on Prospect Avenue, now known as the Donald Hammary Community Court.

"He was a big supporter of living here and working here," Simmons said. "He thought if you don’t live here, you should come live here because it is a great city."

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But as much as he devoted himself to improving city’s youth facilities, friends said Famularo invested much more into Asbury Park’s children individually.

Stephen Williams first met Famularo when Famularo was the substitute teacher for Williams’ third-grade class. Famularo made Williams sit next to him because Williams was acting out.

That was just the beginning of a lifelong relationship where Famularo acted as not just a mentor, but a father figure to Williams.

"You don’t get many people in your life that you can say altered your trajectory in life," Williams said. "You don’t get many people in your life that support you the way that dude supported me."

Famularo continued the connection to Williams — and countless other Asbury Park children — through sports. Famularo coached almost all of the sports in Asbury Park: Pop Warner football, Little League, and Biddy Basketball; he started the city's AYF (American Youth Football) program.

Listen to Famularo talk about Pop Warner football in the video below.

James Famularo on Asbury Park Pop Warner Football (2013) A LOOK BACK: Asbury Park Pop Warner football coach James Famularo is profiled in this 2013 feature on the program.

Williams said Famularo personally paid for him to go to football and basketball camps. It was an investment, friends say, Famularo made in many children in the city, paying for their sneakers, uniforms or trips to out-of-state youth basketball tournaments.

Williams and Hammary said Famularo wanted to show Asbury Park youth a different way of life. But it wasn’t geared just on sports.

Hammary said Famularo would take kids on college tours and help them prepare for SATs.

"He would tell them, 'You want to play sports? You have to pass to play sports. You have to maintain a certain grade point average,'" Hammary said. "He’d reach the kids where they were at."

The prosecutor’s office, Monmouth County Fire Marshal’s Office and Asbury Park Police Department are investigating the blaze.

Authorities ask anyone with information relevant to the investigation to contact Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Det. Brian Weisbrot at 800-533-7443 or Asbury Park Police Det. Cynthia Yost at 732-775-1996.

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Andrew Goudsward: @AGoudsward; 732-897-4555; agoudsward@gannettnj.com