Arson has been cited as the cause of a commercial fire that ripped through seven small businesses on Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood between East 205^th and East 206^th Streets during the early hours of Tuesday, Oct. 10, police said.

The news was shared in the context of a crime overview report during the last meeting of the Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) held on Wednesday, Dec. 6.

An NYPD official said, “Fire was deemed arson by the Fire Marshal, and we have a criminal complaint report for that.” The official added, “No arrest at this time.” The NYPD said the investigation is ongoing.

Firefighters initially said there were no injuries resulting from the four-alarm fire which broke out at 3.49 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 3117 Bainbridge Avenue at a one-story, commercial building. However, it was later confirmed that one person had been transported to North Central Bronx hospital.

FDNY officials confirmed a total of 39 units, comprising 168 firefighters and EMS personnel, responded to the blaze in the end. The fire was finally brought under control at 8.50 a.m. on Oct. 10, FDNY officials said.

Norwood News had followed up on different dates with FDNY since the fire occurred to ask for a status update on the investigation as well as the cause. We were informed each time that the investigation was still ongoing. In light of the latest update from the NYPD, we followed up once again with FDNY for more information. A spokesperson responded once again, saying, “The incident remains under investigation.”

The building is owned by Bainbridge Realty Associates LLC. Norwood News has attempted unsuccessfully to reach the owners for comment. Builders were seen demolishing the remains of the structure on Oct. 17, and there were rumors that the site had been sold. Norwood News has been unable to confirm this, and according to the latest NYC Department of Finance records, the property ownership has not changed.

During the Bronx CB7 general board meeting held at Monroe College on Oct. 24, concerns were raised by one CB7 member regarding whether the affected business owners were receiving the support they needed in the wake of the disaster.

As reported in our follow-up story on the rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of the blaze, the fire was the third such commercial fire in the same block radius in the space of a decade or so, each one having had a huge economic impact on the local commercial strip and its residents.

On Wednesday, Dec. 13, just over two months after the Norwood commercial fire occurred, at least five small businesses were also burned down in Kingsbridge, as reported, when a fire broke out at Cold Cut City Bunny Deli on West 231st Street between Godwin Terrace and Broadway.

After the devastating Norwood fire on Oct. 10, Salvatore Mirra, one of the managers of Hillside Meat Market, one of the local stores destroyed in the fire on Oct. 10, shared some words of encouragement not only for his colleagues, but for other businesses affected by the Oct 10 tragedy.

In an Instagram live post published on the account of Mosholu Preservation Corporation on Tuesday, Oct. 31, Mirra said, “The community really, really suffered, especially, obviously our neighbors and all the tenants that were in the units of this building.”

He added, “I know so many people by name. It’s been quite a journey. I’ve seen people born here and now they’ve grown up. They’re teenagers.”

Mirra concluded, “As much as Hillside Meat Market was a part of the community, the community was such a big part of Hillside Meat Market, and I can’t express that enough. We grew up here. I’ve just been working here since I’ve been a young man, as a young boy. We have no intention of stopping the journey any time soon. We just hit a speed bump is all.”

Click here and here to read our previous coverage on the fire and its aftermath.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.