PHILADELPHIA --
On Saturday afternoon, just 10 days before Christmas, a Toys "R" Us filled with shoppers caught fire. Some might call it bad timing for the store at Third and Oregon streets to catch fire, but everyone got out safely.
The fire began at around 3 p.m. Saturday. It heavily damaged the front of the store.
"It was just a ball on top of the roof with heavy black smoke," Jud Moore of Moorestown, N.J., said.
Jud Moore is a fire chief in South Jersey; he snapped shots of the fire after he helped police clear the building
"The fire was coming inside the store and the smoke coming inside along the rooflines," Moore said.
Firefighters worked quickly to keep the fire from spreading after a big chunk of the front was completely charred.
"There was commotion outside, so everybody ran outside. At first, we seen some sparks in the yard," Keith Taylor, of South Philadelphia, said.
The store was packed with people shopping for Christmas presents when the fire first flared up.
"The whole front of the building was on fire, engulfed," Taylor said.
People worked together to make sure everyone got out of the store safely.
"We tried to get everybody out, then we ran in back where the fire was into the locker areas and the bathroom areas just to see if anybody was back those areas, and in the lunchroom. And we made sure everyone was out," Moore said.
Upset Toys "R" Us workers huddled together in the cold and worried about what would happen because of the fire with just 10 days until Christmas.
"It's amazing nobody got hurt. That fire was huge. It's a blessing nobody got hurt," Taylor said.
The fire marshal is trying to determine what caused the fired, but Toys "R" Us employees believe the cause was an electrical problem.
Employees went back into the store Saturday to access the damage, but it isn't clear whether the store will reopen before Christmas.
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