A fire that broke out inside a popular University Heights deli and that spread to an adjacent 99 Cents store took firefighters more than 90 minutes to extinguish, FDNY officials said. The fire caused a lot of damage to the two businesses, leaving a shell of the one-story structure remaining.

 

According to an FDNY spokesperson, the fire broke out inside the B&M Deli, a 24-hour business located at 16 West Fordham Road, at 9.43 a.m. on Sunday, June 23. Sixty firefighters and EMS personnel fought to control the blaze at the southeast corner at Davidson Avenue, the spokesperson said.

The fire was brought under control at 11.09 a.m. according to the FDNY, and EMS reported no injuries. The spokesperson added that the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

 

A man who answered the telephone on Monday, June 24, at Capsule, BX, NYC, a business located at 14 West Fordham Road, said his store suffered no damage. He told Norwood News, “It was the deli and the 99 Cents store.” He added, “There was a lot of damage, but not totally destroyed.”

The phone for the Dollar Fare discount store at 18 West Fordham Road was not in service and and according to Google the shop is “temporarily closed.”

 

Click here to read our recent story on a fire that broke out on June 26 in Bedford Park in which two firefighters were injured and here, to read a separate story on a Bedford Park fire that broke out on Monday, June 24, at East 204th Street and the Grand Concourse.

Read our recent story regarding three Bronx e-bike fires which broke out over the course of 12 days here. New York City Council voted to pass additional e-bike safety rules to address the dangers of fires caused by lithium-ion batteries in February 2024.

 

New laws have also been introduced at a federal and State level to address fire safety prevention and the hazards of lithium-ion batteries and e-bikes. Click here for details of a prior federal recall of 53,000 scooters due to a fire hazard involving the deaths of two children.

 

Click here to read FDNY’s fire safety tips on the use of lithium-ion batteries. For tips on how to beat the heat, including discounts available from the City of New York for the installation of air conditioning units, click here.