What to Know
- Firefighters spent hours battling a blaze at a Burlington County, New Jersey, motorsports shop Wednesday morning.
- Flames could be seen raging from the Mt. Holly Motorsports building after firefighters pulled back due to safety concerns.
- A portion of U.S. Route 206 was closed during the firefight.
A fire at a motorsports shop closed a stretch of U.S. Route 206 in Burlington County, New Jersey, Wednesday morning and left the shop closed indefinitely.
Smoke and flames could be seen coming from the roof of the Mt. Holly Motorsports building along Route 206 near Old Mansion Road in Southampton Township before daybreak.
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New Jersey State Police arrived around 2:45 a.m. to find fire coming from the exterior of the building, Vincent Fire Company Chief Scott Mitchell said.
Firefighters then responded and tried to battle back the flames, Mitchell said. However, firefighters had to leave the structure while the fire continued to burn.
"Our biggest concern was about the structural integrity of the building coming down," Mitchell said.
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Mitchell said that crews removed as much of the equipment out of the building as they could before they left. They also cut a trench to try to contain the fire to the repair shop.
No injuries were reported.
After mostly just smoke could be seen coming from the building, flames began to rage from the roof again around 6 a.m. A short time alter, part of the roof could be seen collapsing.
"We are going to have to take apart the building a little bit to take the fire out," Mitchell said as he stood in front of construction equipment that would be used.
Expect traffic trouble in the area as Route 206 was closed from Ridge Road to Retreat Road.
Before 7 a.m., the flames had died down, but thick smoke continued to rise from the rubble.
The owners of the motorsports shop had no comment at the scene. They later posted to social media that "everyone is safe," but they "are closed until further notice."
The business specializes in motorcycle, ATV, UTV and jet ski sales, parts and service, according to its website.
Mt. Holly Motorsports thanked everyone for "all the love."
