Some more details are coming out about the three alarm fire that raged through a strip of shops in the East Village yesterday. At around 10:15 a.m. a fire started in Pete's-a-Place on East 14th Street and Avenue A , which quickly spread to four other stores—a hair salon, a tax services business and a vacant store were all damaged by the time the fire was finally out at 1 p.m.
Investigators believe the fire was accidentally sparked by a welder; in a bit of irony the NY Post is reporting that a worker was installing a fire-safety door yesterday prior to the fire. The Ideal Fire Safety Systems employee, named Esteban, says his welding torch may have set some grease in the pizza place on fire. He told the paper that he fears the incident will cost him his job, but explains, "I had three fire extinguishers, and it didn't help any. By the time I put one section out, another went up. I tried to stop it. I really did."
No one was seriously injured as a result of the fire, but two firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation. Some footage from the scene is after the jump.
