5-Alarm Fire Rips Through Multiple Businesses In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A five-alarm fire ripped through a row of stores early Wednesday morning in the Bronx.
The fire broke out just before 5:30 a.m. in a commercial strip on University Avenue in Morris Heights. Heavy smoke and flames could be seen shooting from the rooftops.
"I was shocked," witness Yudelfi Martinez said. "I just saw smoke."
"We opened our windows and we saw flames," said witness Marilyn Rivera. "That's when I woke up my daughter and came downstairs."
5-Alarm Fire Rips Through Multiple Businesses In The Bronx
The FDNY told CBS2's Andrea Grymes the fire started in a 99 cent store and then spread to a neighboring pizza shop and laundromat, completely destroying all three businesses. Two other businesses were damaged.
The stores were all closed when the fire started, 1010 WINS' Derricke Dennis reported.
"They were sawing off the locks and trying to make sure it didn't spread to the adjacent stores," one neighbor to Dennis.
The FDNY said the businesses that were destroyed will have to be demolished and rebuilt.
About 200 firefighters responded to the blaze.
"The problem with this it's a heavy amount of fire in not a well-constructed building," Deputy Chief Joe Saccente said. "The building had a severe collapse potential."
Saccente said the FDNY had to attack the fire from the outside instead of inside, which takes longer to put out.
Three firefighters suffered minor injuries.
The area is closed to traffic and Bronx bus service is being diverted around the scene.
As a precaution, a nearby public school building moved students to other schools and because of the smoke, the Head Start program across the street at Holy Spirit was canceled.
It's still unclear what sparked the fire.
Fire crews will remain on the scene for about the next 24 hours to keep an eye on hot spots.
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