Norwood News

Firefighters tore through several Bainbridge Avenue businesses Monday morning, gutting a bakery and damaging several other stores as they searched for a fire issuing smoke but no flames, according to business owners and witnesses.

The two-alarm fire was finally found beneath the floor of Bainbridge Bakery and Pastry, between East 205th and 206th streets. Firefighters ripped through three inches of concrete to reach it, said James Smythe, who was leading the clean-up crew.

The Fire Department had not determined the fire’s cause at press time. One minor injury was reported.

The bakery’s owner, who gave only her first name, Ana, said she hopes to reopen. But the bakery and its kitchen were completely destroyed, the owner said. On Monday afternoon, a crew worked to board up the windows and holes punched in the roof by firefighters.

Inside, half the floor was torn away to the dirt, and tin ceiling panels dangled from beams. Firefighters had hacked through a wall, destroying a mural of Ana’s hometown in Montenegro.

Ana has insurance. “But how much do they cover?” she said, “I’m not insured for all this damage, just a little bit.”

Saten Elgaaly, manager of the Dunkin Donuts on the corner of Bainbridge and East 204th Street, said she received a call at 6:20 a.m. Monday from an employee who smelled smoke. Elgaaly told her to call the Fire Department.

Fire Department spokesman Brian Smith said his agency didn’t receive a call until 7:38 a.m. and arrived on the block by 7:41 a.m. The first responders, Engines 79 and 62, and Ladder 37, called for more units at 8:17 a.m. In total, 25 units and 106 firefighters converged on the fire.

Several businesses suffered damage from the firefighters’ search.
Elgaaly reported a leaking roof, damaged freezer and holes in the ceiling at Dunkin Donuts. Firefighters tore down ceiling panels and damaged inventory in Neighborhood Gift and Wireless, said owner Mir Mansur, who added that he has no insurance.

The fire didn’t reach Michael Rugova’s European Minimarket next door to the bakery, but firefighters destroyed a wall, the ceiling and shelves. He had to throw out his entire inventory — all food — because of possible contamination.

Rugova has no insurance, but plans to rebuild by this weekend, he said. He owns two other stores and a restaurant on City Island, but he is particularly fond of this neighborhood, as it was the first place he lived upon moving to the US from Montenegro, in 1986.

He hopes the bakery reopens. “We were here for so many years together,” he said, “Everyone on this block knows each other.”

“Thank God nobody got hurt,” he said “The rest, it’s fixable.”