Bell Blvd. fire guts 2 stores

By 11 a.m. on Monday, August 21, the Fire Department Board Up Service unit was nailing plywood sheets to what had been, just hours before, the front windows of two businesses on Bell Boulevard: the corner Carvel ice cream store and Paradise Bedding Dinettes & Furniture, a store that had served Bayside for over 20 years.
At about 1 a.m., a fire had broken out in the furniture store, and by 1:54 a.m., the third alarm was called on the blaze at the corner of Bell Boulevard and 42nd Avenue. Along with the two businesses, the early morning fire had also gutted four apartments in the three-story buildings.
Over 130 firefighters responded, and 16 were injured - though none seriously - while battling the smoky blaze. The firefighters were taken to New York Hospital Queens (NYHQ), North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System, and Queens Hospital Center, where they were treated for smoke inhalation and exhaustion.
One civilian was taken to NYHQ to be treated for an ankle injury that was not believed to be serious, according to a Fire Department of New York (FDNY) spokesperson. According to media reports, the woman was alleged to have jumped out a window, however the FDNY reported that she did not jump, but instead crawled out the first story window and into the arms of firefighters on the scene.
By 2:59 a.m., FDNY listed the Bayside fire as under control.
&#8220I got here about 3 [a.m.],” said Ray Gareau, who has owned the Carvel ice cream shop since 1990. &#8220[The fire] was just about out.”
&#8220Tomorrow we will go back, and the investigator goes through it,” Gareau said while surveying the damage to his corner store.
Bruce Davis, the owner of Paradise said, &#8220I think this is it for us …We are looking at another location on Bell Boulevard.”
&#8220It's a disaster. Luckily no one was hurt except for the poor cat,” said Gina Vesely, 46, whose mother lived in one of the four fire-ravaged apartments. Vesely said that she also had lived in the apartment as a child.
&#8220I've lived here since I was seven. We've been ‘Baysiders' for a long time,” she said while carrying out a few items including the cat case from the building on Monday.
A third business that was damaged during the early morning fire was Gateaux Bakery & Cafe, a new business on Bell, but the bakery's damage - a singed awning, and smoke and water damage - was not as extensive as that in the two other shops.