Efforts by firefighters from a half-dozen towns contained the damage of a large, three-alarm blaze in Ventnor early Saturday morning.
No one was injured in the early morning fire on the 6500 block of Ventnor Avenue. The cause remains under investigation.
Alleys separating the home from buildings on either side are less than three feet, Fire Chief Mike Cahill said.
He credited the response of Ventnor's Third Platoon and the help of responders from Longport, Margate, Atlantic City, Pleasantville and Brigantine for keeping the fire from spreading.
"It was one hell of an effort," he said. "The volume of the fire there was incredible."
The call came in at 5:30 a.m., when smoked filled Ventnor Avenue near the old Delaware Meat Market.
The fire was under control by 11 a.m. Investigators left the scene at 2 p.m.
The building was deemed structurally unstable and demolition began before the storm hit late Saturday afternoon.
Cahill said he expected crews would work to have the building down Saturday night.
