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Sushi Restaurant Fire Injures 10 People, FDNY Says

By  Natalie Musumeci and Aidan Gardiner | August 1, 2014 11:33am | Updated on August 1, 2014 11:50am

 A fire broke out at Ginza Sushi Friday morning.
Fire Breaks Out in Sushi Restaurant
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MURRAY HILL — Nine firefighters and a civilian were hurt when a fire erupted at a neighborhood sushi restaurant Friday morning, the FDNY said.

Flames broke out inside a wooden storage shed behind 251 Ginza Sushi, at 251 East 35th St. at Second Avenue, about 10:50 a.m. and spread to a neighboring second-floor apartment leaving it "severely damaged," according to FDNY Chief John Sudnick.

"I heard a boom and I didn't know what was going on," said Tiffany You, a 25-year-old manager at Ginza Sushi.

"There was a big fire. I'm so scared. Nobody knows what happened."

Nine firefighters and one civilian received minor injuries in the fire, an FDNY spokesman said. Four people were taken to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell hospital and the rest were being evaluated on scene, he added.

The blaze was brought under control about 12:30 p.m., the FDNY said. Firefighters struggled to extinguish the flames because they had to peel back a tin roof to reach the pockets of fire on the ceiling, Sudnick said.

"That made it difficult," the chief said.

The cause was still under investigation.

The Department of Buildings was also called to the scene because fire and water damage had destabilized the rear wall of the one story sushi eatery, Sudnick said.

The building was evacuated due to fire and water damage to the structure, according to the DOB. Two buildings that face Second Avenue, behind the fire, also suffered extensive damage — 645 Second Avenue was evacuated, the DOB spokesman Alexander Schnell said.

The owner of 35th Street building where the fire broke out was issued three violations for failure to maintain the property.