Massive warehouse fire under investigation in Gloucester County, NJ

WILLIAMSTOWN, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Investigators are trying to figure out what caused a large empty warehouse to go up in flames Thursday evening in Gloucester County.

"The sky was just orange. It was very bright," said neighbor Michele Waters.

Flames tore through the warehouse on Sykes Lane in Williamstown.

Chopper 6 was over the blaze around 9:30 p.m. as smoke poured from the building.

On Friday, investigators from the Gloucester County Prosecutor's office and the fire marshal were on scene, along with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Neighbors say the commercial food product facility has been empty for years and has been up for sale.

"It closed up. It was open forever. I mean almost everybody in town worked there at one point," said neighbor Maureen Riggins.

According to county records, the property is owned by Hellenic Gyro and Pita LLC in North Jersey.

Neighbors on Scarlett Court near the warehouse could see the three-alarm fire.

"I heard all the sirens and then I just looked out my bedroom window and you could see the blaze through the trees and all the smoke," said Michelle Jagielski.

Embers and debris were blowing into their neighborhood as crews fought the fire. On Friday, mystery debris was all over their lawns.

"It must've been the ash from last night, or we're not sure what it is. Hopefully, someone will come out and clean it up or tell us what it is before we touch it," said Waters.

According to the DEP, it's burnt foam insulation that floated away from the burning building.

County OEM officials say it's harmless and can be thrown away with household trash.

For neighbors, it was a scary night.

"It was actually the ashes and they were still lit, and then there was one that landed on my neighbor's house and it was pretty big," said Jagielski.

Air quality monitoring was done Friday and DEP officials say all those tests returned normal.

Action News spoke with someone from Fantis Foods on Friday, a related company to the LLC that owns the building, and they had no comment.

Investigators are still looking for a cause.