OC Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
FEBRUARY 13, 2015
SERVING NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
WEEKEND IT’S BIG: With the Seaside Boat Show, Death By Chocolate and a holiday weekend to boot. Page 51 FREE
STEWART DOBSON/OCEAN CITY TODAY
Thick smoke pours from the windows at the Lazy Lizard Brew Pub on Philadelphia Avenue and First Street Tuesday morning. Thirteen people were displaced by a rapidly moving fire that gutted some of the dorm-style apartments upstairs and rendered others uninhabitable.
Fire guts dorm, 4 injured Blaze races through rooms above Lazy Lizard Brew Pub, leaving residents displaced
By Zack Hoopes Staff Writer (Feb. 13, 2015) An intense fire in downtown Ocean City Tuesday morning left at least 13 people with little more than the clothes on their backs, and aid agencies rushing to accommodate the displaced. The first call came in at 9:51 a.m. for flames on the upper floor of the Lazy Lizard Brew Pub on the southwest corner of Philadelphia Avenue and First Street. Formerly the home of Melvin's Steakhouse, before its purchase by the Lizard two years ago, the building houses a brewery and restaurant on
the bottom floor, and a rooming house on the upper two stories. "I went out into the hallway, and this was all the air there was left," said Marvin Johnson, the building's live-in maintenance man, motioning with his land less than a foot off the ground. Johnson said he and other residents crawled on hands and knees down the hall, kicking each resident's door to make sure everyone was out. The fire spread rapidly. By the time most residents realized what was going on, there was no time to lose. "Once I knew what was happening ‌ your focus is on getting out, getting other people out. Material stuff can be replaced," Johnson said. The upper two floors of the building at are a dormitory-style residence, tenants said. A communal
kitchen and bathrooms are shared by 19 single-room units. "The smoke alarm in the kitchen goes off for nothing, like if someone burns toast," said resident Christopher Streeks. "But by the second or third smoke alarm I heard go off, I knew something was wrong." With assistance from the Berlin, Bethany Beach, Showell, Ocean Pines and Roxana departments, the OCFD battled the blaze for more than two hours, according to a city release. Two residents were unable to escape and were rescued by emergency personnel, according to the Ocean City Fire Department. One victim was treated on-scene, and another was taken to the hospital. Two firefighters were also taken to the hospital. None of the injuries were See RED CROSS Page 5
Also this week HAST DU UBER? The lightly regulated Uber taxi system could come to town, maybe, and city officials ponder what they can do about it, when other cabbies have to buy a medallion. .................................................. Page 7
TASK FORCE TASKED A meeting of the minds on what to do about performance artists on the Boardwalk raises more questions, and a few answers. ................................................ Page 14
VANDAL CHARGES Berlin police have made arrests in the widely reported case of vandalism that saw some cars ruined and buildings defaced after a one-night spree of spray painting. ................................................ Page 20
Monthly real estate section inside