A Columbus Farmers Market fire has severely damaged a building after strong and high winds continued to fuel the blaze for several minutes, Philly has learned.
According to responding authorities, though the Columbus Farmers Market Fire in Burlington County, New Jersey was quite large, no one was fortunately left injured by it because the market was closed.
The blaze, which reportedly erupted at 2 p.m. was contained by over 100 firefighters by 3:25 p.m.
"The wind was blowing to the east as the fire progressed," said Springfield Police Chief Eric Trout. "The wind was forcing it onto the other building."
Good thing, the firefighters were quick to respond and contain the flame, hence, ninety-five percent of the market was spared, as per a statement from the lawyer representing the business owners.
Because of the severe damages caused by the Columbus Farmers Market fire to the building, authorities are still contemplating on whether or not opening the flea market on Thursday through Sunday would be a good idea.
The said flea market is considered as Philadelphia's oldest and largest, so it would be a huge loss for the businesses there if they were not allowed to operate for the remaining days of the week.
As of late, the investigation on what caused the Columbus Farmers Market fire is still on-going, and the county fire marshal is still inspecting the scene.
Springfield Township Mayor Denis McDaniel, who came to the scene of the blaze after it was contained, said that only one building was partially damaged.
"The emergency responders did an amazingly quick job of containing the fire," McDaniel said. "It could have been a lot worse."
The only building that was damaged was Building No. 4, which houses 10 shops, according to NJ.com.
Meanwhile, from the raw footage taken by the media through helicopters shows that the raging fire spread quickly across the roof of a single-story building on the area.
The famous farmers' market has been operating since 1919 and it historically started out as a cattle and horse auction place.
Through the years, it has flourished and it now even has 65 retail outlets, an outdoor pavilion for a number of vendors, a food court, a furniture shop, an antiques mall, a farm equipment and tools center and a fresh-produce area.
McDaniel and business owners are now hoping that the market will rebound quickly since the holiday season is already fast approaching.
Nevertheless, the shop owners, whose businesses are in the damaged part of the building will not be able to reopen soon.
The Columbus Farmers Market fire this 2014 is not the first and it is not the most serious one either.
In 1972, several buildings were destroyed when a huge fire erupted.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
