Massive fire engulfs Atlantic City buildings, injuring 8 as more than 70 displaced
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Dozens are left without a place to call home Thursday after a 5-alarm fire spread building-to-building in Atlantic City.
Fire crews responded to the blaze at a building on South Georgia Avenue around 7:45 a.m.
Witness Lisa Blight stated, "It just breaks your heart. We came down here and the roof – everything was on fire and it took about five and a half hours for them to put it out."
SKYFOX was live over the scene as flames erupted from the building's roof as firefighters battled to get it under control.
The roof eventually collapsed as several floors sustained severe damage.
The fire grew to five alarms and spread to two neighboring buildings.
Firefighters got the fire under control at around 1:10 p.m,
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Officials say eight people, including four firefighters, were injured during the fire. They were treated for non-life threatening injuries.
Five residents of the buildings are also being treated for injuries. Two of the five residents were airlifted to Crozer-Chester Medical Center for treatment and are listed in critical condition.
At least 76 residents have been displaced from the building, along with the two neighboring buildings.
Another witness, Dawn Blight, said of those residents affected, "They’re not okay. They’re very depressed and upset. They just lost everything."
The Atlantic City Fire Department said the buildings were rooming houses with 30 rooms in one and 40 in the other.
Officials with the department said it was a challenging job battling the flames. Fire Chief and EM Coordinator, Scott Evans explained, "It was a pretty chaotic scene when we got here. We had heavy fire smoke blowing off the third and fourth floor and this is a four-story rooming house."
He added, "As the first arriving units got here, we had individuals jumping out of third-story windows and fourth-story windows. We had our first ladder company make a rescue out of the fourth floor window."
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.