By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
EAST VILLAGE — A fire that ripped through a handful of stores on East 14th Street across from Stuyvesant Town on Wednesday morning was reportedly sparked by a worker installing a fire-safety door inside one of the shops.
The fire department has not officially determined the cause of the blaze that destroyed a deli, pizzeria, hair salon, tax preparer and vacant store on the block near Avenue A. The FDNY said it usually takes about three days to conduct a full investigation.
An employee of Brooklyn-based Ideal Fire Safety Systems told the New York Post he was working on the door in the kitchen of Pete’s-A-Place at 502 E. 14th St., where fire officials said the blaze originated, when his welding torch set some grease on fire.
The door was supposed to be installed yesterday afternoon in advance of an FDNY inspection, the Post reported.
“They’re the ones that caused it,” Numan Hauter, 49, owner of the Stuyvesant Convenience Inc. Deli and Grocery at the corner of Avenue A, which was heavily damaged in the inferno, told DNAinfo. “I don’t know if they hire people that have the ability or experience.”
Hauter, who’s family-run, 24-hour deli has been a favorite of Stuyvesant Town residents for 20 years, said he saw the fire-safety worker's attempt to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher before firefighters arrived.
At the scene of the incident Wednesday afternoon, a steady stream of longtime patrons met with Hauter and his father to pass along their condolences.
“We know everybody here,” said Hauter’s dad, Alawi Hussien, whose family hails from Yemen.
“These people are our friends,” echoed Stuyvesant Town resident Apoli Hiwali, who’s shopped at the deli “everyday” since it opened two decades ago. “They’re very friendly.”
While Hauter said he hopes to reopen “as soon as possible,” some speculated that the landlord may choose to redevelop the properties with luxury housing.
“I hope they’re going to fix it,” Hauter said of his landlord. “We want to stay here. It became like our home.”
The blaze started inside the pizzeria just after 10 a.m. Wednesday and quickly spread to the neighboring stores that share a common roof and basement, the FDNY said.
Nearly 140 firefighters responded to the three-alarm call as plumes of dark smoke poured from the scene around 11 a.m.
Three firefighters sustained minor injuries battling the blaze, and the fire was brought under control just before 1 p.m., the FDNY said.
The deli, the largest of the five stores caught in the blaze, appeared to suffer the worst damage. The store’s roof had caved in and firefighters continued to extinguish smoldering bits around 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Scott McCool, 28, who works as a landscaper at Stuyvesant Town, said he sometimes went to the deli five times a day for meals and other items.
“It’s definitely going to make our lives a little harder,” he said. “Sometimes we work overtime and we’re there all night. That place is a like a godsend for us.”
