{"id":2076,"date":"2025-11-26T12:25:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T12:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/?p=2076"},"modified":"2025-11-26T12:25:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T12:25:45","slug":"the-fire-that-couldnt-stop-sams-december-9-2005-20th-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/the-fire-that-couldnt-stop-sams-december-9-2005-20th-anniversary\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fire That Couldn\u2019t Stop Sam\u2019s – December 9, 2005, 20th Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Dorothy Kulisek<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Twenty years ago, on December 9, 2005, the biting cold winds of early winter gave way to something far more devastating\u2014a blaze that would go down as one of Wildwood\u2019s worst fires in history. Reported in The Sun, the inferno ignited around 2:30 that Friday afternoon, raging for 18 relentless hours and consuming two beloved boardwalk landmarks: Sam\u2019s Pizza Palace and the Shore Plaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The loss was heartbreaking. For generations of families, Sam\u2019s wasn\u2019t just a pizza palace\u2014it was tradition, laughter, and the taste of summer itself. Yet even as smoke still hung in the air, plans were already being made to rebuild. Wildwood has always had a way of rising from the ashes, and Sam\u2019s was no exception.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just five months later, on Memorial Day Weekend 2006, Sam\u2019s Pizza reopened\u2014bigger, brighter, and stronger than ever. Crowds poured onto the boardwalk, drawn by that unmistakable aroma and a sense of joy that no fire could extinguish.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as Presidents Weekend 2026 approaches, Sam\u2019s Pizza prepares to open for its 69th season. It\u2019s become something of a winter miracle\u2014when the boardwalk, quiet and wind-swept all winter long, suddenly bursts back to life. For many, it\u2019s the unofficial start of the season\u2026 and a reminder that some Wildwood traditions are simply too strong to fade.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sam\u2019s Pizza family<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind the counter and ovens of Sam\u2019s Pizza is a story that runs even deeper than the dough and sauce \u2014 a family legacy now in its fourth generation. Over the decades, countless young people have spent their summers working there, learning the rhythm of the boardwalk and the pride of hard work. Many have stayed on, season after season, becoming part of the Sam\u2019s family themselves. Some even met their sweethearts behind those pizza counters \u2014 love stories that began with a shared apron and a few stolen smiles. Together, the family and their devoted crew have built more than a business; they\u2019ve built a tradition, one that feels like home to everyone lucky enough to be part of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Dorothy Kulisek Twenty years ago, on December 9, 2005, the biting cold winds of early winter gave way to something far more devastating\u2014a blaze that would go down as one of Wildwood\u2019s worst fires in history. Reported in The Sun, the inferno ignited around 2:30 that Friday afternoon, raging for 18 relentless hours and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[3,1,4],"tags":[131,130,9],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2078,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2076\/revisions\/2078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sunbythesea.com\/ww\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}