Fire/Rescue News - Ocean City duplex damaged by overnight fire

A neighbor reported the fire at about 3:24 a.m. today, inside a building in the 400 block of West Avenue.

Deputy Chief Charles Bowman said firefighters put out the fire in about five minutes, containing the fire to a second-floor porch and living area.

"It was easy to put out the fire, it was the clean-up afterward that took awhile," Bowman said.

By the time the flames were extinguished, the fire had caused significant heat and smoke damage to the home's second floor.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Bowman said.

No one was inside the home when the fire began. Fire officials are trying to track down the building's owners.

Posted in Breaking, Cape_may on Thursday, December 3, 2009 6:20 am Updated: 7:16 am.