Photos by: Dennis Symons and Ed Haemmerle

Story by: Messenger Press, http://www.messengerpress.com

                Allentown (Monmouth)--- A 97-year-old building that used to house a Farmers National Bank on North Main Street erupted in flames Sunday night, injuring no one but causing extensive damage to the building's second floor and its roof.
   The fire began at about 8:20 p.m. in the two-story building and was extinguished two hours later, said Chief Jeremy Wikoff of Hope Fire Company, which was one of eight fire crews from the area that responded to the blaze. The cause of the fire remained undetermined by The Messenger-Press' deadline Monday night.
   Chief Wikoff said the roof suffered heavy damage and that the fire destroyed about 50 percent of the second floor. The first floor only had water damage, he added.
   A North Main Street home adjacent to the building was evacuated during the fire. The home experienced some water damage but was not burned.
   "The firemen did a tremendous job of preventing the fire from spreading," said Allentown's Public Safety Director Harvey Morrell.
   Built nearly 100 years ago, the building stands on the corner of North Main and Waker streets and was the site of a Farmers National Bank between 1906 and 1957.
   A number of different offices and retail businesses have used the building over the years. Chief Wikoff said there were two separate offices on the building's first and second floors at the time of the blaze, but it was unclear Monday how those offices were being used.
   The building's owner, Todd Grant of East Brunswick, could not be reached for comment Monday.
   Church Street resident Ed Reid, who witnessed the fire, said there was a loud sound just before the building burst into flames.
   "Everybody heard a pop," he said. "There was glass all over from the windows."
   The flames were shooting up from the top of the building, Mr. Reid said.
   "It was really piling smoke," he said. He described the scene as "really black" and said the smoke was "billowing."
   Maggie Cereste, a borough resident and assistant librarian at the Allentown Public Library, said she heard about the fire at around 11 p.m.
   "I got a call from my son, who said, 'Your favorite building is on fire,'" Ms. Cereste said.
   Ms. Cereste said she initially passed off the sounds of a "commotion" that night as part of the typical holiday noise in town.
   "Around the holidays, you just think it's Santa Claus coming through town (on a fire truck)," she said.
   Chief Wikoff said engineers were examining the building Monday to determine how structurally sound it was following the fire.
   Director Morrell said there hasn't been a significant fire on the street since he began working in Allentown six years ago.
   Fire crews from New Egypt, Crosswicks, Hamilton, Washington Township, East Windsor and Millstone responded to the fire.