April 24, 2025 • 7 mins
Bob Nosti speaks with Mendte in the Morning about the Ocean County wildfires and his business being the only one burned down by the fires.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, all morning, we've been thanking the firefighters in Ocean County,
New Jersey, most of them volunteers, who were fighting one
of the biggest wildfires in New Jersey history, and it
was miraculous that they were able to save lives and
save structures.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
No residential structures were lost, we did lose one commercial structure.
Some outbuildings were also affected in several vehicles as well.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now that's tremendous news unless you happen to own that
one structure, unless that one structure happens to be your
main warehouse for your business. Bob Nosty is the owner
of Liberty Door and Awning, and that is his warehouse
that was destroyed. So Bob, first of all, let me
(00:54):
just start off by saying, I'm so sorry that happened yesterday.
You must have been following along and wondering if your
business was going to be affected. Please walk us through
that what you were hearing about the fire and your
concern about your warehouse.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So thanks for having me, by the way. Yeah, I'd
like to take a shout out to all of the
first responders who have been you know, next to incredible
working with us and you know, supporting us, the residents
and the community as well. But as far as that,
you know, earlier in that day, I was on my
way up the Freehold and you know, you see out
(01:34):
in the distance down south there's a fire, and you
don't think much of it. It wasn't until we were
on our way home after dinner and my phone started
to blow up. I understand that the fire was on
the other side of the Garden State Parkway, and I
didn't think much of it, you know, but it jumped
the parkway and then just made a B line right
towards my building. Yeah, I didn't find out until seven
(01:59):
o'clock that my building was engulfed.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
And have you seen the building since?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Oh yeah, yep, it's gone. Everything in it's gone. And
you know, some trucks that we're close to the building
are gone. It's all gone. Everything's gone.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So how does this affect your business? Now?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
You know, temporarily destroys my business because you know, we
don't have inventory so and we don't have a building
to store inventory. So that's what we're working on today.
We've got a potential building that we could possibly move
into over the weekend or early next week where we
could at least start start receiving products. Fortunate that we
(02:44):
have a secondary building down in Summer's point that we
were able to store some stuff in, so we've got
some work getting done. But until we received you know,
the replacement product, we're kind of stuck here.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Now, I assume you're insured for all of this. Have
you spoken to the insurance company? Do you know at
this point that you're going to be made whole on
all of this.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Work. That's a fluid situation right now where I'm actually
on my way over to the building now to meet
our first insurance adjuster, and then tomorrow I got another one.
And yeah, listen, we were we were insured, so I
think we'll be all right. It's just, you know, the
headache over the next you know, a couple of months
getting back on our feet. You know, we'll need a storage.
(03:31):
You know, we're going to look to move into a
temporary building and then find a forever home.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
And that's going to take some time. I'm so sorry
that this happened to you. I can't imagine what it's
done to your business. And for everybody to be heralding
that it's a miracle, and then you're the one guy
that whose warehouse was destroyed. You've gone out to see it.
You just said that. Are there other buildings in the
area nearby?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Right next So right next door, there's a building that
you know, I think he had some property damage, some
vehicle damage, but nothing to his structure, and the same
across the street. You know. The difference between their buildings
and mine is I had woods behind my building and
(04:19):
right to the side of my building, so we were
basically surrounded by woods. The fire trucks got there before
the fire hit my building, but by then it was
I think it was only two trucks, and that fire
was pretty wicked. I think by the time the rest
of the trucks rolled up, my building was already in gulf.
(04:40):
But you know, I heard a rumor that there was
forty to eighty fire trucks there, which probably saved the
other two buildings.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
No, I you know, it's funny that we were playing
yesterday some of the radio audio and they were talking
specifically about your building and the other buildings in the area,
and if you were listening or if you heard it,
the firefighters said, look, these buildings here are going to
be engulfed in flames. Do you want us to make
a stand or should we put should we pull out?
(05:10):
And they said back to them, this is your call.
And it sounds like they stayed. It sounds like they
tried to see they did.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, well, listen, they're incredible. This is you know, a
catastrophic event. Uh, that was just that fire was uncontrollable
and and and the wind, you know, talk about unlucky,
like right now there's no wind, but it was blown
pretty good. You know. Those those guys put themselves in
harm's way for sure, and you know we're all grateful.
(05:41):
I'm unlucky, that's all it is.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
You're describing this as if you saw a lot of this.
Did you witness this?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
None of it. I wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
No, I mean not. And okay, okay, So if you
didn't see any of it, not not just for your building,
but you weren't anywhere near the fire that you were
affected other than your building being burnt.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
They had shut down the Garden State Parkway and I
was in that mess, in that traffic, so it took
us a long time to get home. By the time
I got into town, I understand my building was engulfed.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So Bob, I know that there's a lot of people
listening right now who feel for you in all of this,
and it's odd to be the one man that had
to suffer while everybody else is saying, oh, this is great,
what a miracle it is, and you're saying, yeah, but
except not for me. And I know a lot of
people would like to support you in somehow, So tell
me where your store is and maybe if somebody is
(06:44):
in the need of a door or awning, they can
reach out to you.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
We have a location right on Lacy Road in Lacy
Township that's still there. That's our office and showroom. That's
where we really conduct our business. The warehouse is not
something that you know customers would would go to. So
we're still open. We're still conducting business, just waiting on
(07:09):
inventory right now.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And you can provide. Even though you had this warehouse
go down, you have the place in Summer's Point and
you can order. You can still provide all the materials
you need to install a door or an awning.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, so it'll take a little time, but what we
can for sure, it.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Would be wonderful if people came out to support you
when you went through all of this. Thank you so much, Bob.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I'll tell you this, this community is something else. They've
you know, they've been supportive, like it's kind of overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Well, it's just wonderful they're there for you. Thanks so
much for talking to us today. Bob Nasty is the
owner of Liberty Door and Awning. Good luck to you, sir,
Thank you very much.
Well, all morning, we've been thanking the firefighters in Ocean County,
New Jersey, most of them volunteers, who were fighting one
of the biggest wildfires in New Jersey history, and it
was miraculous that they were able to save lives and
save structures.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
No residential structures were lost, we did lose one commercial structure.
Some outbuildings were also affected in several vehicles as well.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Now that's tremendous news unless you happen to own that
one structure, unless that one structure happens to be your
main warehouse for your business. Bob Nosty is the owner
of Liberty Door and Awning, and that is his warehouse
that was destroyed. So Bob, first of all, let me
(00:54):
just start off by saying, I'm so sorry that happened yesterday.
You must have been following along and wondering if your
business was going to be affected. Please walk us through
that what you were hearing about the fire and your
concern about your warehouse.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
So thanks for having me, by the way. Yeah, I'd
like to take a shout out to all of the
first responders who have been you know, next to incredible
working with us and you know, supporting us, the residents
and the community as well. But as far as that,
you know, earlier in that day, I was on my
way up the Freehold and you know, you see out
(01:34):
in the distance down south there's a fire, and you
don't think much of it. It wasn't until we were
on our way home after dinner and my phone started
to blow up. I understand that the fire was on
the other side of the Garden State Parkway, and I
didn't think much of it, you know, but it jumped
the parkway and then just made a B line right
towards my building. Yeah, I didn't find out until seven
(01:59):
o'clock that my building was engulfed.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
And have you seen the building since?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Oh yeah, yep, it's gone. Everything in it's gone. And
you know, some trucks that we're close to the building
are gone. It's all gone. Everything's gone.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
So how does this affect your business? Now?
Speaker 3 (02:22):
You know, temporarily destroys my business because you know, we
don't have inventory so and we don't have a building
to store inventory. So that's what we're working on today.
We've got a potential building that we could possibly move
into over the weekend or early next week where we
could at least start start receiving products. Fortunate that we
(02:44):
have a secondary building down in Summer's point that we
were able to store some stuff in, so we've got
some work getting done. But until we received you know,
the replacement product, we're kind of stuck here.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Now, I assume you're insured for all of this. Have
you spoken to the insurance company? Do you know at
this point that you're going to be made whole on
all of this.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Work. That's a fluid situation right now where I'm actually
on my way over to the building now to meet
our first insurance adjuster, and then tomorrow I got another one.
And yeah, listen, we were we were insured, so I
think we'll be all right. It's just, you know, the
headache over the next you know, a couple of months
getting back on our feet. You know, we'll need a storage.
(03:31):
You know, we're going to look to move into a
temporary building and then find a forever home.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
And that's going to take some time. I'm so sorry
that this happened to you. I can't imagine what it's
done to your business. And for everybody to be heralding
that it's a miracle, and then you're the one guy
that whose warehouse was destroyed. You've gone out to see it.
You just said that. Are there other buildings in the
area nearby?
Speaker 3 (03:59):
Right next So right next door, there's a building that
you know, I think he had some property damage, some
vehicle damage, but nothing to his structure, and the same
across the street. You know. The difference between their buildings
and mine is I had woods behind my building and
(04:19):
right to the side of my building, so we were
basically surrounded by woods. The fire trucks got there before
the fire hit my building, but by then it was
I think it was only two trucks, and that fire
was pretty wicked. I think by the time the rest
of the trucks rolled up, my building was already in gulf.
(04:40):
But you know, I heard a rumor that there was
forty to eighty fire trucks there, which probably saved the
other two buildings.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
No, I you know, it's funny that we were playing
yesterday some of the radio audio and they were talking
specifically about your building and the other buildings in the area,
and if you were listening or if you heard it,
the firefighters said, look, these buildings here are going to
be engulfed in flames. Do you want us to make
a stand or should we put should we pull out?
(05:10):
And they said back to them, this is your call.
And it sounds like they stayed. It sounds like they
tried to see they did.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, well, listen, they're incredible. This is you know, a
catastrophic event. Uh, that was just that fire was uncontrollable
and and and the wind, you know, talk about unlucky,
like right now there's no wind, but it was blown
pretty good. You know. Those those guys put themselves in
harm's way for sure, and you know we're all grateful.
(05:41):
I'm unlucky, that's all it is.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
You're describing this as if you saw a lot of this.
Did you witness this?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
None of it. I wasn't there.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
No, I mean not. And okay, okay, So if you
didn't see any of it, not not just for your building,
but you weren't anywhere near the fire that you were
affected other than your building being burnt.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
They had shut down the Garden State Parkway and I
was in that mess, in that traffic, so it took
us a long time to get home. By the time
I got into town, I understand my building was engulfed.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So Bob, I know that there's a lot of people
listening right now who feel for you in all of this,
and it's odd to be the one man that had
to suffer while everybody else is saying, oh, this is great,
what a miracle it is, and you're saying, yeah, but
except not for me. And I know a lot of
people would like to support you in somehow, So tell
me where your store is and maybe if somebody is
(06:44):
in the need of a door or awning, they can
reach out to you.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
We have a location right on Lacy Road in Lacy
Township that's still there. That's our office and showroom. That's
where we really conduct our business. The warehouse is not
something that you know customers would would go to. So
we're still open. We're still conducting business, just waiting on
(07:09):
inventory right now.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And you can provide. Even though you had this warehouse
go down, you have the place in Summer's Point and
you can order. You can still provide all the materials
you need to install a door or an awning.
Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, so it'll take a little time, but what we
can for sure, it.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Would be wonderful if people came out to support you
when you went through all of this. Thank you so much, Bob.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I'll tell you this, this community is something else. They've
you know, they've been supportive, like it's kind of overwhelming.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Well, it's just wonderful they're there for you. Thanks so
much for talking to us today. Bob Nasty is the
owner of Liberty Door and Awning. Good luck to you, sir,
Thank you very much.
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