Large commercial fire reported at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach
A fire burning at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront has shut down a section of the Atlantic Avenue corridor and is sending smoking wafting through part of the resort area.
Specifically, the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and 25th Street, along with surrounding streets, is closed as crews respond to the fire. According to PulsePoint, the call was received at about 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, and multiple units have been dispatched to respond.
Two ladder trucks are being used to drench a one-story building where the Maple Tree Pancake House is located. Dozens of tourists are sitting outside wondering when they can go back to their hotels after being evacuated.
Terlinzica Craig and her family from Ohio were staying in the hotel next door and were getting dressed for dinner.
“I started smelling smoke and then the alarms in the hallway went off,” she said.
Smoke continued to billow out of the roof of the building at 6:20 p.m. and flowed south down Atlantic and Pacific avenues, which was blocked off by emergency personnel between 24th and 28th streets.
The immediate area around the fire includes the T-Shirt Factory store.
This is a developing story. Visit PilotOnline.com for updates.
