Fire Clears Office Building on West Third

A fire late Tuesday morning drove dental employees from their office and shut down traffic on a section of North Church Street for roughly two hours. 

Just before 11 a.m., the Moorestown Fire Department received a call of a fire at a dentist's office at 200 West Third St., according to Chief Anthony Green.

Firefighters quickly got the fire—which started somewhere in the space between the ceiling and the roof—under control, Green said, though not before it caused extensive fire damage to the office, as well as smoke damage to two other dentist's offices attached to the same building. 

Sharon Arnold, who works in Dr. Adithya Reddy's office two suites down from where the blaze broke out, said, "Somebody came in from the first suite and told us to get out."

Patient Mary Monska was in the middle of getting a tooth pulled when the building had to be evacuated, she explained with half her mouth stuffed with gauze. "The Novocaine hasn't worn off."

There was nothing suspicious about the fire, Green said, but the fire marshal is still investigating the cause. He said employees thought it may have started in the vicinity of the ceiling fan. 

Green said the building will be not occupiable for some time. 

Firefighters had mostly wrapped up operations by 1:30 p.m. 

No one was injured.

Crews from Moorestown and responded, as well as firefighters from Maple Shade, Mount Laurel, Riverton, Delran and Willingboro.