By ARIELLA MONTI
"I saw my store on fire," said Diaz, owner of Paulina's Hair Salon at 118 E. Park Ave.
Diaz's store was one of eight businesses on East Park, between Long Beach and Riverside boulevards, that a four-alarm fire tore through and destroyed during the early-morning hours May 16. The city Fire Department received a call from the Police Department at 3:11 a.m., and as the fire intensified, the LBFD was aided by 200 firefighters from 14 departments across the South Shore, including Lido-Point Lookout, Island Park, Oceanside and Woodmere.
The fire was contained and mostly extinguished by about 6 a.m., according to a dispatcher at the LBFD. No one at the scene was seriously injured, and a family that lived in an apartment above one store, at 136 E. Park, escaped without harm.
"The black cloud of smoke was so thick I couldn't see any flames," said Steven Borofsky, who lives in a sixth-floor apartment in Granada Towers, on the corner of Riverside and East Park. Borofsky said he woke up at around 3:30 a.m. inhaling smoke from the fire.
According to Joseph Whittaker, a fire investigator with the Nassau County Fire Marshal's office, the fire began in the vicinity of Edward Jones Investments and Santos Floral Design, at 134 and 132 E. Park, respectively. As the Herald went to press late Tuesday, the cause of the fire was not yet known.
The building was constructed in 1947 without firewalls between the units, which allowing the blaze to move quickly through the businesses, which included Chase Bank, Ooh La La, Sally's Discount Center, the office of optometrist Dr. Leland Barry and San Shoe Repair. Scott Kemins, LBFD first deputy fire commissioner, said the fire spread through a space between the businesses' ceilings and the roof. "Once the fire gets into that, and it's made out of wood, it spreads across the whole building and burns through the roof," Kemins explained.
Kemins confirmed that there is a firewall between the Chase Bank and Steven's Pasta, which is why the fire did not continue on its path into the restaurant. Steven's suffered smoke and water damage.
Kemins, who is also the city's buildings commissioner, noted that he ordered that the building be demolished.
Santos Floral Design owner Christina Santos was awakened on Saturday by Ooh La La owner Jennifer Montiglio, who was banging on the front door of her Long Beach home at 5:30 a.m. Santos headed to the site at around 6, and stood in front of the smoldering building until 7. "I couldn't walk away," she said. "It hurts, and it's devastating."
Santos, who does large events such as weddings and celebrity parties and stored helium tanks and paint cans in her store, said she spent most of the weekend calling her clients and assuring them she is still in business despite the fire. "I'm not going to disappear," she said.
Diaz said she will search for a new location, and in the meantime she has been offered space in another salon. "I want to go to another salon to keep my customers coming," she said.
Barbara Mosca, a financial advisor at Edward Jones, said she has moved into an Edward Jones branch in Mineola, where she can continue working with clients. "I'm going to be fine," said Mosca. "But my heart really goes out to the small businesses. Those are the people that need more help than I do."
Mosca began to cry as she described how people offered her spare office space for her business. "Everyone from Long Beach just rallies for the other person," she said. "That's what makes this town special."
Santos said she, too, was also amazed by the outpouring of community support. "That's how Long Beach is," she said, adding that many businesses offered her free space for her supplies.
The morning of the fire, a neighboring business, John Henry, a restaurant-bar, opened its doors by 8 a.m. and extended a hand to the business owners who had gathered at the site to examine the wreckage.
While Whittaker was uncertain about when the investigation would be completed, an associate from Rettner Management, the New Rochelle-based firm that owns the building, said the company is working hard to get the business owners back on their feet and moving forward with a fire adjuster and architect.
Comments about this story? JKellard@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
These businesses were destroyed or damaged in Saturday's fire:
Paulina's Hair Salon, 118 E. Park Ave.
Chase Bank, 124 E. Park
Ooh La La, 126 E. Park
Sally's Discount Center, 128 E. Park
Dr. Leland Barry, 130 E. Park Ave
Santos Floral Design, 132 E. Park
Edward Jones Investment, 134 E. Park
San Shoe Repair, 136 E. Park
