Employees at a Kingsbridge Heights supermarket woke up to find the place they worked was scorched, following a two-alarm fire sparked by a gas explosion.

Fire officials say the blaze at Morton’s Supermarket, one of the few supermarkets on the east side of the neighborhood at 19 E. Kingsbridge Rd., was reported just after around 4 a.m., escalating to a two-alarm blaze. According to the FDNY, the fire was brought under control at 5:10 a.m., the department reported that 106 members from 25 units responded to the call. Fire marshals continue to investigate the cause of the explosion and blaze.

John Hernandez, a frequent customer, said, “It’s going to be a problem for my parents, because we always buy stuff over here and its going to be more difficult for us to go all the way to Fordham Road,” the site or another Morton Williams or a C-Town on East 204 Street.

“But I have a personal relationship with this supermarket,” Hernandez continued, “because it’s been here almost my entire adult life, since I was 18 years-old. I hope they rebuild, I have a lot of friend’s here and my father’s friends. But it will be rebuilt… and hopefully they will rebuild and be back again.”
Smoke filled the neighborhood while windows were broken, carts were strewn about the front as onlookers passed what was left of the supermarket. Firefighter’s from Battalion Company 27 quickly extinguished pockets of fire that extended into the drop ceiling.

Tensions ran high as workers were busy with the clean-up one man seemed to be taunting workers about the incident, when one worker tried to go after the man but was quickly restrained by fellow workers.

Hours later a dozen workers were seen cleaning the walls as another group of worker’s were removing fresh produce. Employees told the Norwood News the supermarket will not close, and will re-open shortly. An unidentified manager of the supermarket could not say if or when they would reopen.

Additional reporting by Miriam Quinones