Staten Island Florist Heavily Damaged By Fire,
Staten Island Advance 1/23/09
A two-alarm fire in a St. George florist this morning was contained early and did not spread to the nearby St. George Theatre.
The blaze did reportedly not spead to a bank and other offices in the same strip of commercial buildings.
The theater, which is located in the same Hyatt Street row of as Grand Florals, will resume its normally scheduled programs this weekend, said Luanne Sorrentino, vice president of the theater.
"Thank goodness," she said. "When your first hear about it, you think the worst."
The fire started between 8 and 8:30 a.m. in the basement of Grand Florals and quickly went to two-alarms until firefighters could determine the fire did not spread. There were no injuries reported, an FDNY spokesman said.
Henry Decker, educational coordinator at the theater, reported the fire when he arrived at work.
"I didn't see any flames, but I saw the windows were all fogged over and there were droplets of water," said Decker, a retired firefighter from Engine Co. 159 in Dongan Hills. "When I opened the theater, the theater was full of smoke. I knew it definitely was not right and I called."
Decker said the theater, which is four storefronts away from the florist, does not share any common areas with the florist besides the basement and each building is fire-proofed. There was never a real danger to the theater, he said.
Ms. Sorrentino said there's a smell of smoke in the theater and staff is airing out the building by keeping the doors open. But the fire chief inspected the building and found no damage besides the smell, she said.
The fire was under control at 9:03 a.m. and is under investigation, the FDNY spokesman said.
-Reported by Glenn Nyback
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Fire Rips Through St. George Flower Shop NY1 News 1/23/09
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