A suspicious single-alarm fire caused heavy damage Sunday night to the headquarters of Broad Street Media, the publisher of the Northeast Times, Star and Wire newspapers.
Firefighters rushed to the company’s office and warehouse at 2512 Metropolitan Drive in Trevose at about 10:30 p.m. after motorists on the nearby Pennsylvania Turnpike saw flames rising above the building and called 911, said Battalion Chief Robert Sponheimer of the Bensalem Township Fire Department.
The first arriving units saw a rubbish fire outside the rear of the property that had spread to the roof of the single-story masonry structure.
Firefighters cut open a portion of the roof to battle the blaze, which they rought under control at about 11 p.m., Sponheimer said. The the news and production departments suffered water damage as the uilding’s internal sprinkler system activated.
Investigators also reported smoke damage to the BSM office, as well as an adjoining commercial property at 2516 Metropolitan Drive, that Sponheimer described as vacant.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Bensalem fire marshal’s office and police. Authorities have named no suspects.
The flames seemed to be concentrated near a rear entrance and loading ay and left thousands of charred newspapers strewn outside the arking lot. The blaze engulfed two ground-level air conditioning units and caused large sections of asphalt to buckle.
Four engine companies and two ladder companies from the Trevose, Nottingham, Lower Southampton township and Feasterville fire departments responded to the blaze. ••
