OCEAN CITY – A fire on the 600 block of a heavily-traveled portion of the historic Ocean City Boardwalk damaged a popular local surf shop Saturday night.
Firefighters were dispatched to the 7th Street Surf Shop for a reported building fire at around 8 p.m. May 16, said Ocean City Fire Department Deputy Chief Charlie Bowman.
Firefighters arrived to find smoke and fire billowing from the shop on the boardwalk side. Surrounding businesses were evacuated, and Ocean City Police shut down the boardwalk between Sixth and Seventh streets during the fire.
Firefighters from Ocean City, Somers Point, Marmora and Margate were able to place the fire under control in approximately 45 minutes, Bowman said.
Damage to the surf shop was extensive, but due to the block-style construction of the building, surrounding businesses suffered minor smoke damage, Bowman said.
The surf shop was open at the time of the fire, but all occupants were able to exit safely. There were no reported injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by Ocean City officials.
