Fire/Rescue News - Fire guts Mainland Medical Center in Northfield; Firefighters will be on scene all night
Raw Video: Mainland Medical Center Fire in Northfield
NORTHFIELD — A fire that was thought to be under control instead raged into an inferno that destroyed half of a medical office building....Continue Reading with more video.
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More VideoNorthfield Assistant Fire Chief Lauren Crooks said that the department expected “to be here all night” getting the fire under control, assisted by at least five other departments and three county agencies. No injuries to either firefighters or office workers were reported, Crooks said.
The fire was first noticed at about 4:15 p.m. at the office of oral surgeon Robert Fiedler, located in the first floor of the Mainland Medical Center building at New and Zion roads.
Maureen Roycoft, of Northfield, an employee in Fiedler’s office, said that “first the smoke was light, then it was dark, then it was flames, and then we got the hell out of there.”
Black smoke could be seen leaking through the windows of Fiedler’s office on the west side of the building, but by 4:45 p.m. Northfield Fire Chief Hank Martinelli believed the fire to be under control.
“We believe it’s out,” he said, “But we’re going through every room and office in the building to check everything. There’s aways oxygen tanks and other stuff in (medical buildings), but we won’t know until we go through it.”
Just minutes later, black smoke started pouring out of what Roycroft said was a vacant office on the second floor. Soon there were flames coming out of the roof, and several firefighters who had climbed to the top were forced right back down again when those flames erupted into a fireball.
Firefighters started breaking windows on the second floor as an Egg Harbor Township Cardiff Fire Co. backed a ladder truck into the parking lot. A section of the roof collapsed before the ladder truck began dousing the flames from above.
A number of onlookers surrounded the scene as firefighters battled the flames, with some children wandered into the parking lot by the fire hoses.
By 6:30, the flames were mostly gone, but Crooks said that getting the fire under control would take some time.
While the side of the Mainland Medical Center facing New Road was “a total loss,” Crooks said, the portion of the circa-1975 brick building further to the east — separated from the flames by an outdoor stairway — seemed to escape damage.
Route 9 was eventually closed for a lengthy stretch south of Tilton Road, as were parts of Zion Road on either side of Route 9.
Among the doctor’s offices listed as being on the western side, besides Fiedler’s, were those of podiatrist Charles Boxman and orthodontist Leon Nehmad.
The building’s owners since 1989 were listed as Marvin and Marilyn Timbrook, of Mays Landing, and Arlene Groch, of Northfield.
Contact Steven Lemongello:
609-272-7275
This story is developing. Check back for updates.
Posted in Breaking, Atlantic on Friday, December 18, 2009 6:45 pm Updated: 8:32 pm.
