By Bill Parry
The FDNY reported that the massive five-alarm fire in Jackson Heights that destroyed so many offices and stores in the Bruson Building was sparked by an overloaded power strip.
It was not yet known where in the building, at 74-09 37th Ave., the power strip was located, the Fire Department says.
The April 22 blaze broke out on the third floor April 21 and spread through the fourth floor. More than 200 firefighters from 39 units needed nearly six hours to bring the fire under control.
Following an inspection, the city Department of Buildings said the Bruson Building is stable enough that it did not have to be torn down immediately. The front and side walls are stable, but a sidewalk shed was erected around a rear wall which was in danger of collapse.
The building’s owner retained a professional engineer to monitor the rear wall, according to DOB Press Secretary Kelly Magee.
“The property owner has sealed the building as per the department’s orders. A full vacate order is in effect,” Magee said.
More than 50 businesses and stores will not be allowed back into the building for the foreseeable future.
Plaza College, the four-year school based on the building’s third floor, is hoping to resume classes in a temporary space in a Forest Hills site where it planned to move its campus this summer.
Meanwhile, Queens Community House had to find new spaces for four of its programs that were burned out of the Bruson Building. The nonprofit immigrant service provider was able to place its Adult Education English classes at Sunnyside Community Services, at 43-31 39th St.
The QCH Center for Gay Seniors will operate out of the Kew Gardens Community Center, at 80-02 Kew Gardens Road. Staff members from CASP and Immigrant Services programs will be temporarily housed at QCH’s Forest Hills site.
“We will need some help getting all four programs housed in a new location as soon as possible, hopefully in the Jackson Heights or Elmhurst neighborhoods, where the majority of the program participants live,” QCH Executive Director Irma Rodriguez said.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4538.
