[UPDATE BELOW] Just around 11 a.m. a three alarm fire broke out at 502 East 14th Street, right across from Stuy Town. As of 11:25 a witness told us the fire was "still going and flames are visible." And another witness pointed out that it seems to have engulfed Stuyvesant Convenience, Pete's-A-Place and Jackson Hewitt. We'll update when we have more details...
UPDATE: As of 12:10 p.m., they are assessing structural stability of the building, and a 10-41 CODE 1 has been transmitted, meaning this is being looked at as a suspicious fire.
UPDATE II:EV Grieve is hearing reports that no one was injured, but the roof of the deli is gone and "the fire started in Pete's-a-Place and spread—flames were shooting up from the roof."
UPDATE III: The NY Post talked to 29-year-old Essa Assabahi, an employee at Stuyvesant Convenience, who told them, "That's my job right there. Now I'm unemployed." He and his coworkers originally tried to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher, but the smoke and flames quickly became too instense. It took nearly 140 firefighters to get the situation under control—two of whom were treated for smoke inhalation.
