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2-Year-Old Girl Among 5 Injured in Huge Supermarket Fire, FDNY Says

By  Trevor Kapp and Aidan Gardiner | July 25, 2014 8:34am 

 A fire engulfed Food Dynasty supermarket in Hunts Point and injured five people, including one child, the FDNY said.
Five Hurt in Supermarket Fire, FDNY Says
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HUNTS POINT — Five people, including a 2-year-old girl, were injured when a massive fire engulfed a Hunts Point supermarket early Friday morning, raging for eight hours until nearly 200 firefighters brought it under control, the FDNY said.

The flames erupted inside the Food Dynasty Supermarket at 862 Hunts Point Ave., near Seneca Avenue, around 12:30 a.m., and quickly spread throughout the building, an FDNY spokesman said.

Four firefighters suffered minor injuries and a child, identified by police on the scene as a 2-year-old girl, suffered minor smoke inhalation, the spokesman said. All were taken to area hospitals.

Neighboring apartment buildings were also evacuated, according to the Red Cross, which was on the scene.

"I started smelling smoke getting into the apartment. It was burning like crazy. I grabbed my dog, my ID, my debit card and my phone and came outside," said next door neighbor Jossye Martinez, 22.

"There was a lot of smoke coming from the market. It was a really dark gray. It was thick. It was everywhere. It was so dark, you couldn't even see the firefighters," she added.

The blaze drew 198 firefighters, according to the FDNY.

Firefighters had extinguished most of the blaze by 7:45 a.m., but were still battling small pockets of flames, a spokesman said. It was finally brought under control about 9:30 a.m., the FDNY said.

Marshals will investigate the source of the fire once it's extinguished.

Neighbors said the fire terrified them.

"I was sleeping. I smelled smoke. It was strong. I came outside and there were firefighters breaking the gate. Smoke was coming out from the building," said Rafael Martinez, 57.

"It was scary because the fire was so big."