'The Whole Roof Caved In': Cherry Hill Strip Mall Destroyed In Massive Fire
CHERRY HILL, N.J. (CBS) -- Firefighters worked to put out a massive fire as flames engulfed a Cherry Hill strip mall on Friday. Now investigators are searching for what caused the fire.
Construction workers scattered as flames took off Friday morning at the front building of the Short Hills Town Center on the 400 block of East Evesham Road in Cherry Hill.
"The whole roof caved in," a witness said.
Starting around 10:45 a.m., the fire spread from the center of the strip mall to both ends of the building, causing the roof to collapse within minutes.
"It was an incredibly fast-moving fire, rapidly expanded. As soon as the roof collapsed, the fire erupted even more, went end to end from the building," Cherry Hill Fire Chief Chris Callan said.
Chopper 3 was over the action as the Cherry Hill Fire Department called two alarms and with the help of companies from neighboring towns, they brought the fire under control in about an hour.
Officials say all six businesses, including a Starbucks and the Classic Cake Bakery, were closed at the time of the fire due to work being done on the building.
Witnesses say it was electrical work. The power had been off all night and they believe the fire started shortly after the power was turned back on.
"The kids actually saw it first and they were like, 'there's fire,'" Busy Bees Christian Family Childcare owner Jocelyn Tomaszewski said.
Tomaszewski owns the day care center that is directly behind the fire-ravaged building in the town center.
"We could feel the heat inside the front windows. We immediately put everyone in the back," Tomaszewski said.
As they followed safety protocols and notified parents, they leaned into their faith-filled activities to keep the kids calm.
"We went to battle with prayer and singing songs and praising God and just being thankful that the building had been closed and it was mostly empty," Tomaszewski said.
No injuries were reported.
There is no word on how the fire started.
