Fire erupts inside Brooklyn's Paradise Manor catering hall, spreads to neighboring businesses
NEW YORK -- A fire erupted inside a well-known catering hall in Brooklyn before spreading to neighboring businesses Tuesday.
The fire chief says crews showed up on scene one minute after the call came in, and when they got there, there was heavy smoke inside the Paradise Manor catering hall on New Utrecht Avenue in Borough Park.
There was heavy fire on the first and second floors.
The chief says there was no one inside when they showed up at the scene, so the fire had time to build.
Due to the nature of the building, firefighters had a tough task to get it under control.
"It's an older building, and with this type of construction, there are many voids. Once the fire gets into these voids, it's very labor-intensive to open up these voids and extinguish the fire. We open up the walls, we open up the roofs, the floors. And again, it requires much personnel," Fire Chief Kevin Woods said.
The blaze kept growing to four alarms with 180 firefighters and emergency personnel on scene. Fire trucks and ambulances lined the streets for blocks.
The neighborhood was out in full force trying to get a glimpse of what was happening to the catering hall.
The fire also spread to the second and third floors of the commercial building next door.
There were no reported injuries.
The fire marshal is now on scene investigating the cause of this fire.
There were service interruptions to the D train because of the fire, but they are now back on track.