Barbershop and its building suffer heavy fire

The Barnsboro 5 Point Family Barber Shop on Main Street caught fire on the night of Feb. 9, a blaze with heavy smoke that also engulfed apartments in the same building and took three hours for Mantua firefighters to extinguish.

There were no injuries. Victor Torino of the Mantua Fire Marshal’s Office was the first to arrive on the scene.

“Mantua police department officers arrived shortly after me and began evacuating the residents from the apartments on both the first-floor and second-floor apartments,” he reported.

The Mantua department’s Rescue 2218 and Taskforce 22 were also dispatched to the scene and were aided by the Glassboro and Washington Township fire departments.

“Mutual aid companies from Washington Township and Glassboro arrived and made entry into the apartments on the first and second floor,” Torino said. “Interior crews on the second floor discovered heavy fire conditions and began extinguishing the fire.”

Help also came from Pitman Fire Company No. 1 and the Wenonah, Woodbury, West Deptford, Harrison Township, Clayton and Westville fire departments.

“Crews extinguished the fire using a 1-and-3/4-inch hose line,” Torino explained. “A total of four hand lines were in service to extinguish the fire.”

The cause of the blaze is under investigation by the fire marshal’s office, but no suspicious activity was reported at the scene.

Mayor Robert Zimmerman addressed a Mantua committee meeting three days after the fire and offered an update.

“Keep in your thoughts and prayers the owners of the Barnsboro 5 Point Barber Shop, the owner of that building and the two gentleman that run the (barber) shop beneath,” he noted. “Apparently it took out most of the interior and gutted the building, so the parties are not able to continue business and have been displaced.”

There was a moment of silence during the meeting, something usually reserved for fallen police officers, soldiers and others going through trying times.