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Lower East Side Residents Left Without Cooking Gas Following Fire

By Julie Shapiro | February 24, 2012 8:00pm

LOWER EAST SIDE — Residents of a Lower East Side public housing building will be without cooking gas for the next four to five weeks following a fire at the high-rise Thursday, housing officials said.

The FDNY shut down gas to 388 Pearl St. in the Alfred E. Smith Houses after a blaze tore through an eighth-floor apartment Thursday morning, the New York City Housing Authority said.

NYCHA is now replacing the main gas piping in the 17-story building's basement, along with other equipment, which will take four to five weeks, the agency said Friday.

"The New York City Housing Authority staff has delivered hotplates for each of the 160 households that are without cooking gas, which is everyone in the building," the agency said in an email.

"NYCHA Management has been in contact with the Resident Association Board members and a meeting was held with the residents of the building Thursday evening to provide an update and targeted timeframe. We will hold weekly update meetings with residents until restoration is complete."

The Thursday morning fire trapped a family of five inside the burning building and left seven people injured, including two firefighters.

The fire was sparked by a candle, officials said.