BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — A large fire broke out at the Gristedes supermarket at 101 Henry St. just before 6 p.m. on Tuesday, sending a billowing cloud of black smoke down the street, which sits just uphill from the Brooklyn Bridge.

The FDNY responded immediately, smashing the windows in the storefront to vent the building of the heavy smoke. Everyone inside the supermarket at the time of the incident was evacuated immediately; no employees on duty reported any injuries. A store employee looking up at the consumed building on Tuesday also reported that no shoppers had been injured.

Four engine companies, four ladder companies, a squad company, a rescue company, two battalion chiefs, and one division chief were on the scene to control the blaze. Police officers were roping off the streets and sidewalks nearby, instructing passersby to take detours and not interfere as a large crowd began to appear, some taking photos with their cell phones.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the fire’s origin was electrical, starting near the donut area just to the right of the shop’s entrance. But the fire looked under control by 6:30-6:45 p.m., as some of the firefighters began to disperse.

Still No Word on Cause

The stretch of Henry Street between Pineapple and Clark streets was already reopened to pedestrian and automotive traffic yesterday. Cleanup of the debris both outside and inside the store was already well underway, and trash was being carted out to the large sanitation bins at the curb in shopping carts.

Many independent contractors were on hand to survey the damage and assist the representatives from the store and Fire Department on Wednesday afternoon. Overheard from one of the independent contractors was that the fire began in the basement and surged up through the store.

However, there was still no official cause for the fire as of 3 p.m., noted a Gristedes executive during a brief interview at the scene Wednesday afternoon. Gristedes was still waiting on word from the FDNY as to the exact cause, and also was waiting to hear back from insurance companies as to the full extent of the damage.

One employee was on hand to clean up some of the mess and reported that he and his coworkers were notified by their union sometime around noon on Wednesday to stop working inside the store due to the still “unsafe working conditions� inside.

“They had to get everybody out,� he said. When asked what the conditions were like just before they were told to put the work on hold, he replied that it was the “smell, and … everything.� There was no word on when the store will be reopened and fully operational.

“We aim to have at least the pharmacy opened up by Friday at noon,� the representative from Gristedes asserted. Their goal is to make prescriptions available to consumers to be picked up at the 101 Henry St. location, or either delivered to homes or other Gristedes locations.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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