Early morning fire destroys Bronx deli before spreading to 4 neighboring businesses
NEW YORK -- A major fire early Wednesday morning in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx injured one person and damaged multiple businesses.
CBS New York spoke to mom-and-pop shop owners whose livelihoods were destroyed.
Smoke and flames shot into the sky, as the fire raged through a strip of shops on West 231st Street at 3:30 a.m., devastating at least five stores, including Kenny Nim's dry cleaning business.
"This store is since 1952. I've been here 15 years. But just one night, it's all gone. Nothing there," Nim said.
Next door to Nim, the family-owned fish market was also reduced to ashes.
"We've been here for 18 years, shocked," the owner said.
Officials said the fire broke out inside a deli. CBS New York spoke to workers, who said there's nothing salvageable inside. One employee showed up to work, only to find the store in charred ruin.
Luis Victorio said he worked at the deli for 10 years.
A meat market and barbershop are no longer recognizable.
"There's seven barbers in there. Now, there are seven families that don't have work or a job," hairstylist William Gruseo said.
"To see all the store owners just lost their place of business, it's honestly very heartbreaking," Kingsbridge resident Antonio Perez said.
"It's horrifying, horrible at this time of the year," resident Elaine Mann said.
The apartment building directly behind the strip of businesses was evacuated by building management.
"We got a call from the super: 'You need to go out,'" one person said.
"The smoke was too heavy. We had to put on some masks," another said.
"I said, 'Oh my God, it's a lot of smoke,'" resident Fernando Vasquez added.
So much smoke entered their units, a neighbor suffered smoke inhalation.
"Fortunately, only had one civilian with a minor medical complaint, that was treated on the scene," FDNY Chief Frank Millani said. "We originally tried an interior attack, got into a couple stores, had to transition due to the volume and body of fire. It's extension to an exterior attack."
The Department of Buildings was on the scene late Wednesday afternoon, talking to business owners and working with their insurance providers.
"I hope ... I have no idea yet. It's more than years. The ceilings are broken and everything broken," Nim said.
Many are unsure of their next steps, but they are hopeful one day they can rebuild.
The Fire Marshal's Office is still working to determine an exact cause of the fire.
