In two hours, Ali Rahimi’s store, 358 Famous Deli, was in smoldering ruins. His store, a familiar staple on Bedford Park Boulevard between Decatur and Marion avenues, bore the brunt of a three-alarm fire that began at the laundromat abutting his grocery store on the morning of Oct. 25.

Grieving near the charred remains of his business, Rahimi stood surrounded by family members, employees and friends, offering condolences as the hum of the fire trucks added to the surreal-like morning. Sipping his coffee, Rahimi told the Norwood News that he plans to rebuild his business.

“Life is always like that,” said Rahimi’s cousin, who declined to give his name. “Not always good, not always bad.”

The scene of the blaze was unlike what most eye witnesses have seen in the low-key business area. Bedford Park Boulevard is home to a small business strip that caters to the working class community, with several mainstays such as Webster Avenue Café, Leroy Pharmacy, and the Jolly Tinker Bar lining the corridor.

“This is the biggest fire this neighborhood has seen,” said Sandra Taylor, a 26-year resident of Bedford Park.

The morning began like most Sundays on Bedford Park Boulevard: quiet. On that morning, Sylvester and Veronica Aquino had been among a large number of regular customers tending to their clothes inside Chang Chang Laundry at 358 Bedford Pk. Blvd. The business, with its commercial washers and dryers and pick-up service, had been a neighborhood fixture for well over 20 years, enjoying a good deal of business.

Midway through cleaning their clothes, Sylvester smelled smoke coming from one of the dryers. He quickly rushed to the owner, who declined to give his name to the Norwood News, and unplugged the dryer after seeing a cloud of smoke billow from behind. But the flames immediately spread from one dryer to the next, forcing customers to abandon their clothes and flee.

The flames soon engulfed the back of the laundry, overpowering the one-story business. Not even an attempt to extinguish the blaze by an employee at 358 Famous Deli was enough to stop it. The flames would soon seep into the deli, which opened May 2014. This year has not been good to its owners. Over the summer, owners were cited with fines for overextending their store sign into the property of a two-family home.

Several feet away, an altar boy at St. Mary’s Orthodox Church, smelled smoke coming from the outside. He would rush to Fr. Paul Cherian to alert him about the fire, who then signaled his congregation to exit. Outside, on Decatur Avenue that was cordoned off by yellow tape, parishioners stood curbside with eyes locked on the fire. They were joined by neighbors, snapping photos on their cell phones.

The church was left with some damage caused by water firefighters used to douse the back of the laundry.

Ten trucks, ambulances and police vehicles were on the scene, with nearby streets sectioned off for several hours as fire crews battled the stubborn flames left ablaze by heavy winds. A thick, heavy smoke cloud could be seen for well over a mile. Water used to extinguish the fire temporarily flooded the street.

Several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, while another unidentified person was rushed to Montefiore Medical Center and listed in serious condition.

Dryer fires are common. They ranked first in the number of appliance-related fires in 2014, according to a 2014 FDNY annual report. Of the 147 fires attributed to appliance fires, 74 of 147 reported appliance fires were caused by a dryer that was powered either by gas or electricity. Gas-powered fires accounted for nine injuries last year, according to the report.

It took two hours for firefighters to contain the blaze. Parishioners of St. Mary’s Orthodox Church were allowed back in, relieved the church sustained only a slight bit of damage. Before given the okay to enter the church, Fr. Cherian stood resigned, though he remained optimistic since the church had survived the fire. “I think in 43 years we’ve gone through difficulties and this hardship we’ll get through as well,” said Cherian.

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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.