An early-morning four alarm fire that broke out shortly after midnight at 147 Philadelphia Avenue has left 8 people homeless in Egg Harbor City early Thursday morning.  The fire spread through three buildings on the 100 block of Philadelphia Avenue downtown, severely damaging one of them. That building holds two upstairs apartments, a clothing shop and a vacant storefront all of which were heavily damaged, Fire Chief Russ Fenton said. The American Red Cross is helping the apartments’ residents relocate providing eight people with temporary shelter. It took firefighters four hours to fully bring the blaze under control.

The bar Venice Grill and the grocery La Placita stand on either side. It is not known whether the fire, which lasted from about midnight to 4:30 a.m., will disrupt their business. Police say everyone inside at the time managed to get out safely and there were no injuries.