Fire strikes again at Lazy Lizard brewpub

A small fire broke out early Wednesday morning at an Ocean City apartment building already ravaged by a February blaze.

At about 5 a.m., Ocean City firefighters were dispatched to 25 Philadelphia Ave. for a reported structure fire. Initial reports indicated smoke and fire were visible from a second floor window of the three-and-a-half story structure, according to town spokeswoman Jessica Waters.

Upon arrival, firefighters quickly located and extinguished a fire on the second floor. Damage was limited to a small area in a second floor room. Ocean City police temporarily closed traffic on a portion of southbound Philadelphia Avenue.

Nobody was in the building at the time of this fire. The 19-unit building had been evacuated after a Feb. 10 blaze gutted the upper floors. The structure remains unoccupied, and the ground-floor brewpub, De Lazy Lizard, is closed for business, as cleanup and restoration continues.

Firefighters again returned to the building around 1:30 p.m. for reports of smoking again rising from the second floor, though this time it was a false alarm.

The Fire Marshal's Office determined that, this time, the "smoke" was actually steam rising from wet floors, which had warmed after a renovation crew opened windows and allowed sunlight into the building. Traffic was stalled for 30 minutes while firefighters responded.

As a result of last months' devastating fire, 20 people from 14 families lost their homes. Three people were hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries, including two firefighters. Firefighters also rescued two people who were trapped in the building. The cause of the fire was undetermined.

The cause of this latest fire is under investigation by the Ocean City Fire Marshal's Office. Anyone with information relating to the building or the fire is asked to call the Fire Marshal's Office at 410-289-8780.

bshane@delmarvanow.com