Business destroyed as huge Bronx fire rages through seven stores just days after nearby six-story building collapse ripped family homes open

Several businesses have been destroyed by a raging fire in the Bronx as firefighters continue to battle the blaze.

One person was injured in the fire, which started around 3:30 a.m. and engulfed several businesses inside a commercial building in the Kingsbridge area.

Video posted on social media showed huge flames engulfing the building, with witnesses saying they were awakened by the strong smell of smoke.

A local hair salon, seafood market, meat market, flower shop and cleaning business were reportedly affected. ABC7 New York.

“I saw a lot of firefighters and woke up from smoke. I was surprised because similar things don’t happen in the area. These businesses have been around for over 30 years. These people are good people,” said an eyewitness named Miguel.

Officials said a fire started at the Cold Cut City Bunny Deli early this morning, with witnesses saying the fire started in the kitchen at the back of the business.

Officials said the fire caused fire and water damage to seven other businesses.

The fire comes just days after another six-story building collapsed in the Bronx, destroying families’ homes.

Surveillance video shows a school bus passing by when the apartment suddenly collapsed without warning, throwing scaffolding and tons of concrete, bricks and metal onto the street below.

Bystanders could be seen running for cover from the carnage, which occurred without warning in the Morris Heights area around 3.30pm on Monday as the school run was already in full swing.

Photos of the scene show the bare walls of several apartments inside the apartment building, some completely exposed.

At ground level it was a scene of complete destruction with a pile of rubble below.

A scaffolding shed at the base of the building also collapsed in the collapse and was surrounded by a pile of sheet metal, bricks, concrete and metal rods.

Firefighters said they found no one in a massive pile of rubble after a corner of a Bronx apartment building collapsed, leaving the apartments exposed as a stack of shelves and a store partially buried under bricks and wood.

Firefighters spent hours searching through the 10-foot-tall pile of rubble, the fire service said on social media late Monday.

No injuries were found, but two people were slightly injured while evacuating the damaged building, the department said.

The owner of a store on the first floor reported that people inside got out safely, city officials said.

Firefighters used buckets, power tools and heavy equipment during the search, while officials kept a close eye on remaining parts of the building.

“Our main goal is to get to the bottom of this pile,” Fire Chief John Hodgens said at a previous news conference. “We’ll be here until he gets down to street level, just to make sure there are victims there. Hopefully we can get to them in time.”

Officials were investigating what caused the collapse of the building, built in 1927, where the façade was being renovated.

A nearby grocery store worker, Julian Rodriguez, said he was behind the counter when he heard people screaming about the building collapsing.

“When I went outside, all you could see was debris and a cloud of smoke in the street,” Rodriguez, 22, said. “And you could see inside the structure: people’s beds, their doors, closets, lights, everything. It was really scary.”

The corner of the building stood with torn off walls and sagging floors, and a pile of rubbish spilled onto the street. In one apartment the bed stood several feet from the edge of the floor, which now jutted into the air; in another, art was visible hanging on the wall. Elsewhere on the floor, which sloped dangerously downward, sat a chair, like the top of a box set into the wall.

One of the collapsed rooms turned out to be a child’s room. There was a tiny pink jacket hanging on a hook. Boxes of toys and clothes were visible on the cabinets that still stood on the remaining parts of the floor.

Firefighters shined bright lights on apartment windows from high stairs and used at least one drone to look inside. The search dog searched through a pile of twisted and jumbled metal, apparently from scaffolding, while the robot dog also moved toward the rubble.

Firefighters hauled away debris by the bucketful and used circular saws to cut through collapsed scaffolding as an excavator plowed through the debris.

“We’re tunneling through this pile of debris as safely as we can,” Hodgens said. “Firefighters are in a dangerous situation right now. We don’t know what caused that corner of the building to collapse. We don’t know if any of this will fall.”

In 2020, a 2020 inspection found cracked brick and loose, damaged mortar on the building’s façade, Building Department records show. Commissioner Jimmy Oddo said Monday that work had begun, but he did not believe workers were there at the time of the collapse.

“I want to be clear: an unsafe facade is not the same as an unsafe building,” he said at a news conference. While there were seven outstanding violations on the property, they were not structural in nature, he said.

Oddo said officials will be closely examining drawings related to the collapsed area. Images were provided as part of the façade work permit.

The phone rang unanswered at the possible number of the building owner.

Surveillance video obtained by several news organizations showed people scattering along the sidewalk as debris fell in a swirling cloud of dust.

A resident of the sixth floor of the building, Domingo Taveras Tejada, said he was slightly injured in the panic caused by the escape.

“When I heard the collapse, I ran and fell down the stairs. When I went outside, I saw the collapse,” said the 32-year-old man.

Resident Norma Arias told The New York Times that she had just returned from buying cilantro at a bodega when she heard a loud crash in her first-floor apartment and heard a neighbor yell, “Everybody leave.” The building is collapsing.

The building has about 50 apartments, according to the Department of Buildings. Residents were directed to the school for help, and city officials parked buses outside the building to stay warm.