New Jersey

Guests Flee Rooms as Fire Rips Through NJ Hotel

The blaze at the Howard Johnson Inn on Black Horse Pike took firefighters about two hours to bring under control

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What to Know

  • Hotel guests were forced out into the night as fire spread through rooms at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham Blackwood Near Philadelphia in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Wednesday morning.
  • When police officers arrived to the hotel around 3:30 a.m., they saw flames coming from the third floor.
  • Luckily, everyone made it out safely and police reported no injuries.

Fire gutted a section of the upper floor of a New Jersey hotel Wednesday morning sending guests scrambling to escape the flames.

The fire began around 3:30 a.m. at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham Blackwood Near Philadelphia at 832 North Black Horse Pike in Gloucester Township, Camden County.

Cellphone video showed flames coming from the roof of the large U-shaped three-story building, one person shouting "fire, get out." An employee said it appeared to start in a third-floor back room.

The fire quickly spread on the upper floor as guests ran from their rooms.

Officers helped evacuate people from rooms as the flames spread. One guest said he alerted others to get out of their rooms.

The fire also spread to a second building at the complex, Gloucester Township police said.

Everyone made it out safely, police said.

Firefighters from numerous fire departments got the fire under control around 5:30 a.m., but remained on the scene investigating and looking for hot spots. Firefighters could be seen examining charred rooms.

The American Red Cross responded to help as some of the hotel guests were staying long term and lost belongings in the extensive blaze. Some other guests were trying to retrieve belongings from rooms not gutted by the fire.

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