By Kye Parsons and Chris Weimer
OCEAN CITY, Md.- Authorities are investigating a Wednesday fire that heavily damaged a oceanfront condominium building located on 140th Street in Ocean City.
The fire broke out just before 11 a.m. at the Pelican Beach condominiums, according to Ocean City spokesperson Jessica Waters. She said only construction workers were inside the building at the time and everybody made it out of the building safely. There were no reported injuries.
Firefighters responded after several citizens reported seeing the fire and heavy black smoke.
Some of the construction workers, who did not wish to identified, told WBOC they were working inside the building when their power tools suddenly stopped working. They went to check out the generator on the truck and that's when they saw the truck on fire. They then immediately evacuated the building.
According to Waters, the fire was noticeable to responders on the first floor parking garage and second floor residential units of the five-story building. The fire had also spread to the dune are on the east side of the property. In addition, responding personnel reported the sound of explosions coming from the area of a work truck and generator on the first floor parking garage.
The fire was under control within an hour of the department’s arrival, although personnel remained on scene into the late afternoon. The building experienced significant damage to the exterior and the interior of two units.
Waters said the cause of the fire remains under investigation but did confirm it appears to have started on the first floor.
The damage to the building is "significant to severe," according to Waters.
The fire is under investigation by the Ocean City Fire Marshal's Office.
