BY BILL PARRY
An early morning blaze
broke out in Sunnyside on
Thursday, Aug. 12, and quickly
turned to a four-alarm
fire that damaged multiple
businesses along Queens
Boulevard.
The fire began around 7:25
a.m. at Taiyo Foods, a popular
Japanese market located in a
one-story commercial building
at 45-08 44th St., across
from the Sunnyside Post Office.
FDNY arrived at the
scene within four minutes.
Flames spread next door
to Yeserith Esthetics and then
to Mad Cafe located across
Queens Boulevard from the
elevated 7 train, but smoke
conditions did not slow the
morning rush.
Within an hour, the blaze
went to four alarms. More
than 200 firefighters and EMS
personnel responded using
five hose lines to knock down
the fire, which was placed under
control around 9:45 a.m.
Mad for Chicken and Bajeko
Sekuna, a Nepalese restaurant,
were damaged during
the fire reminiscent of a 2018
five-alarm inferno just a block
away that destroyed several
beloved Sunnyside establishments
including Sidetracks
and New York Eats.
No one was inside the
buildings at the time of the
fire, but FDNY reported three
firefighters were injured
while battling the blaze.
“FDNY members had an
approximate four-minute response
time to the scene. We
had fire in the Japanese restaurant
to start with smoke
pushing out. We started with
an aggressive interior attack.
Fire quickly spread to other
occupancies in the building.
We have five occupancies affected
by this fire. We have
three non-life-threatening
firefighter injuries and no civilian
injuries at this time,”
Chief of Operations John Hodgens
said at the scene of the
fire Thursday morning.
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“Whenever there are fires
in severe heat conditions that
are weather-related, it’s always
a challenge for us. We
encourage our members to
always stay hydrated, wear
loose clothing, and to be very
cognizant in operating in
these conditions. We provide
relief to our members faster
than we normally do to keep
them safe. Right now, our fire
marshals are investigating
the cause of the fire,” Hodgens
added.
Councilman Jimmy Van
Bramer surveyed the damage
along Queens Boulevard.
“I am told there are no serious
injuries, we are grateful
for the FDNY response,” Van
Bramer said on Twitter. “And
of course will do all we can to
help the affected small businesses
& those whose jobs are
impacted.”
Sunnyside Shines, the area
BID, set up a GoFundMe page
to raise relief funds for workers
displaced by the destruction.
The campaign had raised
Firefighters at the scene of the blaze. Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
more than $37,000 as of press
time.
Those looking to donate
can do so at www.gofundme.
com/f/sunnyside-fire-relieffor
small-businesses.
Fire marshals are investigating
the cause of the fire,
according to the FDNY.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
Multiple Sunnyside businesses
damaged in four-alarm blaze
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