By Patrick Donachie
FDNY crews remained on the scene days after a seven-alarm blaze engulfed several buildings on a short span of Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill, injuring five people and leaving 31 homeless. An FDNY spokesman said several of the buildings would undergo a controlled demolition because of the structural instability caused by the fire.
The fire began at about 11 p.m. Saturday night at an undetermined location in a row of commercial establishments on Liberty Avenue between 110th and 111th streets, underneath the elevated A line. Several establishments were still open and serving diners at the time.
More than 250 firefighters and EMS workers responded to the fire, which eventually became a seven-alarm call. An FDNY spokesman said seven-alarms were rarely called and were done on a case-by-case basis. The spokesman said the structure of the interconnected buildings, the rapid movement of the fire and weather conditions made it necessary to bring all resources to bear.
Despite the severity of the blaze, only five individuals, including two firefighters, suffered minor injuries, and there were no fatalities. The FDNY spokesman said eight buildings were “fully involved” with the fire and several others suffered significant damage.
On Monday morning, onlookers on the street could see straight through the second-floor residential apartments into the blue sky behind them, as the back walls were completely decimated. Large icicles hung from the interior ceilings, surrounded by the ruins of apartments decimated by the blaze.
Anita, the owner of Liberty Delight, a Guyanese restaurant in the middle of the block, stood across the street from the gutted buildings, watching FDNY crews probe the exterior of the structures. She said that on Saturday evening she was working in her kitchen when she detected the faint odor of smoke.
“I smelled something not right. My customers were still eating and drinking, but I felt like something was wrong,” she said. She walked into the street to find smoke billowing out the entrance of a Guyanese grocery market located next door.
“I ran into my restaurant and yelled ‘go, go, go!’” she said, and the guests in the restaurant left the building before the fire endangered them. “I feel so lucky no one was hurt.”
NYPD officers, FDNY officials and representatives from the city’s Office of Emergency Management were on site on Monday morning, surveying the damage and directing individuals affected by the fire to the Shree Tulsi Mandir Hindu Temple at 103-26 111 St., half a block away from the site. There, affected individuals could speak to FDNY representatives about their questions and concerns.
Liberty Avenue between 110th and 111th Streets reopened Tuesday, according to Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica), and state Sen. James Sanders (D-Rochdale Village) scheduled a community resource event to be held in the Hindu Temple this week. The Red Cross provided emergency financial assistance to eight families, consisting of 23 adults and 8 children. The Red Cross also supplied food, clothing and blankets, according to a spokeswoman.
Pierre Kushun, an Allstate insurance representative who worked across the street from the affected buildings, first learned of the blaze on the news. Upon seeing familiar storefronts burning on television, he raced to the scene. He said each building on the block had residential units on the second floor, except for a single building on the end of the street.
Kishun said he had heard the fire began in the rear of the Ace Caribbean Market, though FDNY refused to specify a location, and he believed at least five buildings would need to be razed. Anita said she was happy everyone was safe but was saddened by the damage to her restaurant. The kitchen equipment, she said, had been entirely destroyed and the interior of the restaurant had undergone significant damage.
“I don’t know my future,” she said.
Reach reporter Patrick Donachie by e-mail at pdona
