A warehouse at the Cherry Hill Commerce Center on Old Cuthbert Road caught fire late Friday, drawing multiple township fire units to the complex. The Cherry Hill Fire Department says the blaze has been brought under control.
The department announced the update in a Facebook post at 8:09 p.m. local time (00:09 UTC on March 21). The post identified the location as the Cherry Hill Commerce Center and confirmed that Cherry Hill Fire Department units were working the scene. It did not provide details on possible injuries, the cause of the fire or how much of the building was damaged.
Fire Department Update and Scene
In its Facebook post, the Cherry Hill Fire Department said multiple CHFD units were operating at a warehouse fire in the Cherry Hill Commerce Center and later added an “update: fire has been placed under control.” The message did not identify a specific tenant or building number within the complex, and township officials had not issued a formal incident report at the time.
What Officials Have Said and What Remains Unknown
The Cherry Hill Township website describes the department as a full service fire and EMS agency, but its public pages did not list an incident report for this particular fire when the Facebook update went up. For general information about the agency, see Cherry Hill Township. Local news outlets had not posted independent coverage of the warehouse incident as of the time of the department’s social media update.
Why Warehouse Fires Can Turn Into Major Operations
Warehouse and high pile storage fires can grow quickly and pose unusual risks for firefighters, especially when it comes to fire suppression and potential structural collapse. A Fire Protection Research Foundation and NFPA report on storage facilities notes that large warehouses can pose challenges with standpipe placement, firefighter access and how sprinkler systems interact with the fire. Coverage on Firehouse also points out that these kinds of incidents often require extended operations with multiple companies on scene…