No Injuries Reported In North OC Fire

OCEAN CITY -- No injuries were reported during a fire at a north-end condominium building Wednesday night, although the building did suffer considerable damage.

Around 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday, the Ocean City Fire Department (OCFD) responded to a reported residential fire at the Harbor Woods North condo building on 142nd Street near Laurel Ave. First responders reported heavy fire showing from the roof of the three-story, 12-unit building. The Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Company was called to provide support assistance.

The fire was contained to the roof area and the soffit around the roof, which suffered significant damage. There was also some fire and water damage to some of the third-floor units. The building was occupied at the time of the fire.

According to OCFD spokesman Steve Price, the fire was contained in about an hour although fire crews remained on the scene for about two hours.

Investigators with the Ocean City Fire Marshal’s Office determined that the fire originated in a concealed wall space surrounding a fireplace chimney in unit 304.

Large volumes of combustible grass nesting materials, located in close proximity to the chimney vent piping and apparently the result of extended bird occupation, was likely ignited by convective and radiant heat from the vent pipe.  The vent pipe served the ground floor unit, where the occupants had been burning a fire in the fireplace.