Baldwin's Top stories of 2010 - May

I lost everything and I have nothing,” said a woman named Betty, as she looked at the charred remains of an apartment she had lived in for the past 11 years. Breaking down into tears, Betty explained how she had gone downstairs from her second-floor apartment above John’s Haircutters the previous night to see where a cloud of smoke was coming from, at which point Baldwin firefighters told her there was a fire and she could not go back upstairs, even though her cat was still in her apartment. “I lost my cat, and she’s all I had,” she said. “I have no one. I have nowhere to go.”

It was a similar story for many shell-shocked tenants and business owners who lost nearly everything when a massive fire swept through a Merrick Road building in downtown Baldwin late May 3.

Baldwin Fire Department officials on the scene the morning following the blaze said it appeared the fire began in the basement below Pizza Garden at about 10:45 p.m. and quickly spread to the second floor. Firefighters tried to extinguish the flames, but when the fire grew more powerful, they were given the order to fall back. The fire soon spread into other parts of the building.

By the time firefighters got the blaze under control — they were still extinguishing hot spots at 6 the next morning — the fire had all but destroyed the New Old Venice Inn, Pizza Garden, John’s Haircutters, Linda’s Knit-Pick and Anabell’s Hair Studio. In total, 15 fire departments responded to the fire, with Baldwin F.D. 1st Deputy Chief Kevin Smith directing operations.

“It’s still unclear if we can build within ... or start over,” said Joe Russo, four-year owner of the New Old Venice Inn, barely taking his eyes off what was left of his restaurant, His voice cracked with emotion as he fought back tears and added, “It’s just ... so much of an uncertainty.”