The following is an extended version of the story that appears in our latest print edition.

After a third major commercial fire in a 14-year span ripped through a busy business strip of Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood in the early hours of Tuesday, Oct. 10, several small business owners watched in shock as their livelihoods went up in smoke before their eyes and they are, once again, grappling to figure out a way forward.

 

As reported, 25 fire trucks, emergency vehicles, EMS personnel with waiting stretchers, police, news crews, and residents initially filled the section of the avenue stretching from Van Cortlandt Avenue as far as Mosholu Parkway North, and more took up East 204th Street as 106 firefighters first tried to tackle the blaze which FDNY officials said they were alerted to 3.49 a.m.

 

They said the initial report was for a fire at 3117 Bainbridge Avenue, a one-story structure, which is the location of the popular Hillside Meat Market, located between East 205th and East 206th Street.

Adjacent businesses, Bainbridge Bakery, Curry & Kebab, La Familia Market (a Mexican deli), Shahjalal Grocery & Variety, Mz Mexicana Grocery, and 7S Fish Market, along with Hillside Meat Market were all decimated in the fire. Firefighters were seen cutting through a metal gate to access the CVS pharmacy overnight while tackling the blaze to reveal a smoke-filled interior. It has been closed since.

 

CVS advises customers that they can find an alternative CVS pharmacy on their store locator via Google, and that if they’re experiencing a medical emergency, they should dial 911. Jenny, a resident since 1972 of 3150 Rochambeau Avenue, located behind the fire scene, where firefighters were also tackling the flames from the rear, told Norwood News later on Tuesday morning, “All my medication goes there [CVS] so I was worried.”

She added, “What woke me up was the helicopters. Then I heard all the firetrucks and then the cops came around the corner and they started knocking on everybody’s door because the entire hallway [3150 Rochambeau Avenue] was engulfed with smoke.” When we spoke to other residents of the same building as the fire was still burning, none recalled hearing a fire alarm go off. Asked if there were many elderly people in the building, one young resident, who declined to be identified, said, “Yeah, a lot,” adding that everyone was helping their neighbors evacuate.

 

Norwood News attempted to reach the building owner, Sunbyrd Realty Corp., of 3150 Rochambeau Avenue to ask for a comment on reports that people did not appear to hear the fire alarm go off. The phone rang out and there was no option to leave a voicemail message and no email contact.

An 18-year female resident of the same building, waiting in the dark with some small children, said neighbors alerted her. “I just woke my parents up, my husband, and my children and I came out,” she said. “All my neighbors are saying it’s like three times it’s happening in this area – the CVS Pharmacy, the restaurant.” The resident said they didn’t have to evacuate. They just did so voluntarily.

 

Fran Hoffman, another longtime resident of the Rochambeau Avenue building, tearfully recalled, later that morning, attempting to help her cancer-stricken mother, through a room filled with smoke, and down the stairs since they weren’t allowed use the elevator. Other residents, many wearing face masks, who live on the opposite side of Bainbridge Avenue to where the fire was burning filmed and watched in shock, as pet dogs were seen barking in panic as smoke filled the air.

Randy Williams who lives in a residential building on Bainbridge Avenue recalled seeing the fire break out, “The fire didn’t wake me. It was the noise that jolted me because it was a sound that you normally don’t hear and I thought it was a car hitting another car, because usually sometimes that happens.” In reference to the affected burnt out building, he added, in part, “All of a sudden, the smoke came, and a piece of the roof popped up in the air, smoke came out, and right after that, flames started coming, so I immediately called 911. Thank God nobody got hurt and it didn’t spread worse than it did.”

 

Williams continued, “CVS lost half of their merchandise because their service door, where they keep their garbage and cardboard, went up in flames and it damaged half of their pharmacy in the back.”

One firefighter was brought to North Central Bronx hospital, FDNY Battalion Chief John Sarrocco later confirmed. According to FDNY, the fire escalated to a 3-alarm emergency at 4.14 a.m., necessitating a total of 33 units, comprising 138 fire fighters and EMS personnel, but as it blazed, a total of 39 units responded in the end to make it a 4-alarm fire, comprising 168 firefighters and EMS personnel. FDNY said the fire was finally brought under control five hours later at 8.50 a.m.

 

Sarrocco said, “On arrival, units found heavy fire throughout the structure. We started an interior attack. Unfortunately, due to structural stability concerns, we had to pull our units out and did a tower ladder operation.” He continued, “What happens in a fire like this is the space between the top of the ceiling and the roof system called the cockloft area… when the fire gets into that area it spreads exponentially throughout the building.” Sarrocco said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Choudhury Sfaqul said one of his friends, Mahmoud Guija, is the owner of the Halal restaurant. “My friend is ok,” he said. “He’s crying but he’s with his wife and his two daughters.”

 

As the fire burned, we spoke to the manager of Hillside Meat Market, Jimmy Cronin, who said he and his boss’s son ran the business together. He said he didn’t live in the building and appeared to be obviously stunned at the scene. “No, no, everybody’s out,” he said, when asked if any of his colleagues or employees had been affected. “The only place someone might be is the CVS. I know they work overnight there, so maybe someone might have been there. I don’t know,” he added. The CVS manager confirmed the next day sometimes employees work overnight on Wednesdays.

Cronin continued, “This is the second fire we’ve had on this block. The last one was at Halloween 2011, where all of those stores down there…this is like this. How many times the bakery?” In fact, Norwood News reported on a bakery fire on the same Bainbridge block at the time it broke out on Halloween 2009 [not 2011], its aftermath, a legal battle which ensued between the affected merchants and their landlord over back rent, and the subsequent redevelopment of the affected site. Around ten other businesses were also affected.

 

The merchants were represented on that occasion by The Legal Aid Society. Contacted on the outcome of the legal dispute, a representative for the Society said their attorney doesn’t know what happened after a settlement agreement was reached.

After reporting on the October 2009 Halloween fire, two months later in December 2009, another commercial fire ripped through the same general commercial strip, this time on East 204th Street between Perry Avenue and East 205th Street, once again affecting a number of local businesses.

 

As reported at the time by Norwood News, the 5-alarm blaze gutted Foodtown, the only supermarket on the strip, and which had only been renovated six months prior to the fire, as well as the American Diner and Bainbridge Dental. It took 168 firefighters to extinguish the blaze according to the FDNY. Foodtown later reopened, as reported. McKeon Funeral Home on Perry Avenue also suffered some water and smoke damage but was back up and running in a couple of days.

 

According to ABC7 NY, prosecutors later said 52-year-old Mohammed Abdul Quadir was arrested and charged with arson for his alleged involvement with the December 2009 fire. It was reported that Quadir allegedly hired 53-year-old Christopher Gooding to start the blaze, because the former had allegedly been in debt and had allegedly bought a half-million dollar insurance policy on the diner before the fire occurred.

It was reported in the same story that Gooding was also arrested. Norwood News reached out to the Bronx District Attorney’s office for details of the final outcome of both legal cases and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback. We also asked the FDNY for the cause of both 2009 fires, and will share any updates we receive.

 

Jenny recalled watching the Foodtown fire from her roof years earlier, saying, “That was arson, yeah.” In reference to clean-up efforts following the latest fire, she added, “All these guys cleaning, they’re from Foodtown so I don’t know if Mr. [Noah] Katz [whose family have owned Foodtown since 1956] owns one of these [latest damaged] stores. I don’t know, but I just thought it was odd that everybody from Foodtown was out here cleaning. Helping out the community is nice…”

Local resident, Sirio Guerino, of Guerinos against Graffitti* said of the tragedy, “We lose seven stores including Hillside Meats. The neighborhood will NEVER be the same again, without them.”

 

A vacate notice posted at the fire scene by NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) later on Tuesday morning advises residents that “conditions within the premises are imminently perilous to life.”

Meanwhile, an NYC Small Business Services (SBS) rep. told Norwood News, in part, that SBS has been working with the seven affected businesses since Tuesday, in coordination with the Office of Emergency Management, assessing damage, connecting them with relevant City agencies, and helping them to navigate their insurance coverage. They said any business in need of support recovering from an emergency should call 1-888-SBS-4NYC.

 

 

Later on Tuesday morning outside his business, we spoke to Mohammed Alam, manager of Curry & Kebab restaurant, who was with Bronx Community Board 7 member, Monjur Chowdhury. “I got the call around 5.30 [a.m.] and I’m here at a quarter to six and I see… it’s totally lost,” Alam said. Estimating the overall impact based on employees at all his sites, he said, “I have six employees, and I think there’s more than 50 employees who have lost their jobs now.”

“Sentimentally, I don’t feel well,” said Alam. “It’s business.” Grateful that there were no injuries, he added, “We are open mostly from 10 [a.m.] to 10 [p.m.] so nobody in there.”

 

Asked about rebuilding, he said, “I don’t know. I’m totally lost. I don’t know if I will rebuild. The [building] owner, if he rebuilds our building…then maybe then we can see.” Asked about insurance, he said, “Ah, actually after COVID I didn’t pay the insurance.” After visiting the business ruins, Chowdhury said he and the restaurant’s employees were going to their mosque located on East 206th Street and Rochambeau Avenue to pray.

We also spoke with Kelvey, the owner of the Mexican deli. Speaking in Spanish, he said, “A lot of people have been impacted, a lot of workers from this area…the fish shop, a lot of people.” Asked if he had insurance, he said, “Yes, but we’re waiting now for the [fire] report.” We mentioned that we had heard from others that the entire structure encompassing all seven businesses was to be torn down. “Yes,” he said. “They going to tear down everything.”

 

We were halfway through asking if there was anything at all Kelvey was able to salvage from the ruins but then realized nobody, including the business owners, was allowed back in yet due to the health concerns. “Nobody can go in, no,” Kelvey said. “We’re waiting.”

We also spoke to local patrons of the businesses who were also devastated by the massive loss. Deborah told us she got all her meat at the meat market. “They’re like family,” she said. “They know me since I was a child, my family and we’re shocked. I have the chills, and even for the rest of the owners… but I’m glad nobody got hurt.” We mentioned that one firefighter was injured. “I hope they can rebuild back up, stronger than ever but we’re here to, you know, support them,” she said.

 

Another resident, Olise Forel, said he was frequent patron of the affected businesses. “I go every day to the Mexican grocery and the fish store, you know? I like to eat every so often. It’s a very big deal. The Mexican grocery was the number one store around here for avocados. You want perfect avocados? You walk in, they’re ready all the time, they got the freshest ingredients. The people that work there were very, very nice, welcoming, friendly, and it’s absolutely devastating.”

Of the fire, he said, in part, when we spoke to him at around 3.15 p.m. on Oct. 10, “It’s technically still smoking, right now, this one right there if you look. Yeah. It’s still smoking. That’s why the firemen are still here on duty. Yeah, I mean we saw there was about three ladders that were up, and I think about five or six hoses going, and they kept going and going.”

 

He also mentioned about the affected building being torn down and condemned. “Maybe not everyone is going to be able to reopen,” he said. “Well, I hope that somehow they can reopen, because they’re really a staple in the community, and a lot of people, you know, love to come here. This exact little strip was a lot of different culture, a lot of different nationalities, food and products, and it’s devastating.”

We also spoke with Mohamed Farrouq, manager of the CVS store. “I couldn’t even get in the back [to the parking lot],” he said. “But then I wait a little bit, I went to the fire department and they said I cannot come, so I parked at the end of 206th and I wait. When I came here [after around a half an hour] everything was all broken up, the door… the smoke was gushing out so I run right back out!”

 

Asked how much damage the pharmacy had suffered, he said, “Right now, we can’t assess the damage. There’s a lot of damage.”  Asked if anything was burned or if it was just smoke, he said, “Just smoke.” He added that the fire department had to come and check some things on account of all the water the pharmacy took in. “Right now, we have like six inches of water in the basement from next door,” he said. “So I don’t know how long we’re going to take to reopen.”

District 11 City Councilman Eric Dinowitz, who represents Norwood, said, in part, of the blaze, “We will be monitoring the fire and my office stands by to assist those impacted by the fire.” On Sept. 14, Dinowitz, along with District 12 City Council Member Kevin Riley, introduced legislation that would require NYC Department of Emergency Management, in consultation with the Office of the Mayor and community boards, to identify and designate facilities within each community district to serve as rapid emergency response centers. According to the councilman, each center would be required to stock supplies for residents who are displaced by a natural, human caused disaster.

 

“After an apartment building fire in Wakefield displaced 61 people earlier this year, New Yorkers were reminded of the destabilizing impact of displacement by disaster,” said Dinowitz at the time. “Luckily, in this case, a local school was able to provide shelter in the aftermath of the fire and luckily, local elected officials provided clothing, but we cannot rely on luck to provide for New Yorkers. With this bill, the city will have New Yorkers’ backs in times of emergency and that they will get the help that they need to get back on their feet.”

Indeed, the housing dilemma had already been a factor in the aftermath of the Twin Parks fire tragedy in January 2022, when the complexities of navigating the federal housing voucher system became fully apparent. For his part, Riley said, in part, of the introduction of the bill, “The Rapid Emergency Response Centers will enable communities to receive efficient and effective aid from appropriately coordinated facilities within their neighborhood because once these disasters occur, relief efforts can’t afford to be delayed or difficult to navigate. As a result of this legislation, there will be space for greater efficiency citywide in providing New Yorkers with food, water, medical supplies and shelter during emergencies.”

 

Meanwhile, Daniela Beasley, executive director of Mosholu Preservation Corporation (MPC), which works to support local businesses in the Norwood community, said, “All of MPC [were] heartbroken when we heard about the fire.”

 

She added, “These businesses are pillars in our community; we are here for any and everything the affected small business owners need and will be starting a fundraising effort to assist in the rebuild of their stores.” When advised by Norwood News that one resident, Taylor Zhou, had asked about fundraising efforts for the affected businesses, Beasley confirmed that, once available, a link to a fundraising page will be posted on www.mpcbronx.org and on MPC’s Instagram account @mpcbronx.

Zhou had earlier lamented the loss of the businesses, saying, “They’re neighborhood institutions and we’d like to set-up a crowdfunding resource, and whatever can be contributed, you know, just for the neighborhood to show their support for this.”

 

We spoke with Cronin once again later on Tuesday. He said, “We’ve been in this neighborhood, on this block, for 40 years. It’s just a lot of hard work and it’s just gone away just like that, and not just us, but all the stores here. It’s all small family businesses. It’s tough, especially with the holidays coming and everything now too. A lot of people depend on us.”

Cronin said they had another site in Mount Vernon, and he’s been giving everybody his number. “We’ll deliver down to you whatever we have. We’re trying to help everybody we can but yeah, we’re a little shorthanded too,” he said, adding he was blown away by the support of the community. “I don’t know how many hugs I’ve gotten already. We try to support them as much as they support us,” he said.

 

He said he hopes to be back running the business again but knows there’s a lot of red tape, adding that he was informed by officials that asbestos tests have to be carried out, and that whatever remains of the seven affected businesses will have to be demolished.

Staring at the ruins, he concluded, “Everybody was asking me, ‘Do you want to go on camera and stuff?’ and I’m, like, I really don’t because I think I would burst out in tears. You see it like this… Like I want to cry right now, but I got to hold it together.”

 

Editor’s Note: Our initial story published on the morning of the fire can be read here.