By:Leslie Gonzalez
Blaze closes eight Lynbrook businesses
A fierce electrical fire swept through a large commercial building at the Five Corners intersection in Lynbrook early Monday morning, destroying a row of second-story offices and interrupting business for more than a half-dozen ground-level stores that occupied the same building, fire officials said.
The blaze broke out shortly before 3 a.m. in the downtown business district at the corner of Merrick Road and Atlantic Ave..
Business owners are now waiting for private engineers and the village's Buildings Department to determine whether the remaining structure is safe for them to return to and rebuild. Lynbrook Fire Departtment spokesperson Steve Grogan said that damage to the building has been estimated at $250,000.
No one was injured in the blaze, which destroyed the law offices of Darryl Chason and the offices of attorney Norman L. Dreyer, former deputy mayor and village trustee. The building's first level, which housed Mike's Dry Cleaners, Rubie's Health Food and Vitamins, Wireless Hut, Color Nails, the Broadway Beanery, and Lynbrook Luxury Blinds and Shades, received severe smoke and water damage.
A six-hour investigation at the scene by the Nassau County Fire Marshal determined the electrical fire started in the ceiling above the nail salon. Although the fire was confined to the second floor, the nail salon and the law offices immediately above sustained structural damage.
Stores were closed Monday as insurance adjusters and village officials assessed the building's damage. Windows were boarded up and blockades were set up along the building's exterior sidewalk as workers swept up broken glass and debris. The building remains without electricity and water.
Lou Bello, Lynbrook's superintendent of buildings, met Tuesday with private engineers hired by the building's owners to determine if the entire building or just its second level will need to be demolished.
"Six to eight structural support beams were lost on the first floor, and 12 roof rafters were lost on the second," Bello said. "No one is allowed in the front portion of this building until its safety is determined."
Proprietors have been allowed to remove paperwork and other belongings from the safer portions of the building.
Lynbrook police were notified of the fire around 2:45 a.m. Monday, after the proprietor of the dry cleaning store at 2 Atlantic Ave. reported that he smelled smoke. Lynbrook Fire Department volunteers were immediately notified, and crews swiftly responded under the command of Fire Chief John Matzen.
As Matzen arrived at the scene, flames blew out the building's second-story windows. Volunteers from all of Lynbrook's five fire companies arrived moments later.
Firefighters stretched hoses to the Beanery entrance at 2 Broadway while other volunteers checked each store along the first floor. Vulcan Company volunteers used their truck's mounted hose to douse the huge, second-story fireball, which had already blown out the building's front windows. Flames were quickly reaching above the roof. Meanwhile, firefighters who entered the cafe climbed its narrow stairwell and dragged their hose lines up the staircase to fight the second-story fire.
Lynbrook's Truck Company arrived next, and volunteers parked directly in front of the burning building to extinguish the fire that was quickly engulfing the building's front facade.
As the raging fire threatened to overtake the entire building, Matzen requested assistance from the East Rockaway and Rockville Centre fire departments, which sent ladder trucks.
At the height of the inferno, volunteers noticed a weakening in the building's facade facing Merrick Road. Fearing a collapse, Matzen ordered all firefighters to evacuate the area.
Although the fire was brought under control within 45 minutes, firefighters continued to snuff out pockets of fire for more than two hours, as store owners watched their property burn.
At Monday night's Village Board meeting, officials described the fire's magnitude and thanked firefighters, neighboring departments, the police and public works employees for their efforts.
"This was an aggressive fire that was headed down both Broadway and Atlantic," said Deputy Mayor William Hendrick, who was called to the scene around 3 a.m.
"It's sad to see our downtown like this. We have to start over and rebuild," said Mayor Gene Scarpato.
Matzen praised the teamwork shown by all volunteers who worked hand in hand to put out the fire.
"They made a great stop before the fire spread even further," Matzen said.
Brian Som and Patricia Robinson, proprietors of the Broadway Beanery, were also present to accept a Beautification Award their business earned from the village's Beautification Committee and Chamber of Commerce.
"We thank everyone, and Chief Matzen for your efforts. I believe we will rebuild," Robinson said tearfully.
"This is given not just because their store was beautiful, but these are two people who are beautiful. They will bring it back," said Bill Gaylor, chamber president.
"We have to take each day at a time," Som said. "Each day will be a new adventure."
