Firefighters Douse Blaze at Ocean Manor

Ocean City firefighters quickly controlled a fire at an old Ocean City hotel on Tuesday night.

Three Ocean City Fire Department vehicles and a ladder unit responded to a call about 8:40 p.m. reporting heavy smoke coming from Ocean Manor across from the Flanders Hotel at 11th Street and Ocean Avenue.

All residents were safely evacuated from the multiple-story building as smoke poured from the first floor and a second-floor window.

Crowds formed on the sidewalks to watch firefighters at the scene, and parts of Ocean Avenue (the beach block) and 11th Street were closed during the response.

Firefighters found an interior fire in a utility room, according to Ocean City Fire Department Capt. Gary Green. They extinguished the blaze and checked the rest of the building to make sure the fire didn't spread. The fire appeared to be contained by shortly after 9 p.m.

Green said the room where the fire was found suffered extensive damage, and the entire hotel has smoke damage. He said the building is about 100 years old.

Electrical power to the building was cut, and all its residents were forced to find alternative lodging -- some reportedly in other nearby properties of the same owner.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, though it does not appear to be related to thunderstorms that passed through Ocean City on Tuesday night.