Fire in Baldwin buildings shuts main road for hours

A fire raged through a line of buildings in Baldwin soon to be condemned in a redevelopment project, causing significant damage and closing Grand Avenue for hours Thursday between Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road.

The fire was reported in a storefront at 2386 Grand Ave. at 8:37 a.m., officials said. The scene was just 100 or so feet south of the Baldwin Fire Department firehouse on Grand Avenue.

The building is in a line of brick storefronts with apartments above them - so-called "taxpayer buildings" - that line Grand Avenue near Merrick Road. The apartments were vacant, Red Cross officials said Thursday.

Some businesses - the Mambo Cafe, a psychic's shop and Ms. Spongebob's Laundromat - still occupied some of the commercial space on the first floor. The other storefronts were vacant, fire officials said.

A dozen fire departments responded to the scene. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries.

The blaze was extinguished at about 11:30 a.m. Fire marshals were on the scene after noon trying to determine the cause of the blaze.

On May 3, a massive blaze destroyed eight businesses in a similar storefront row around the corner on Merrick Road east of Grand. That fire left 21 residents homeless and took more than 200 volunteer firefighters to fight.

The buildings were the scene of a similar blaze in January 2009, fire officials said - and also were believed to be the scene of a fire about five years ago, though officials could not provide a date for that fire.

Firefighters from 12 fire departments were called to the scene Thursday, Nassau County fire officials said. A second and third alarm was issued after the fire was reported, officials said.

Departments responding included Baldwin, Freeport, Oceanside, Hempstead, South Hempstead, Roosevelt, Island Park, Long Beach, Rockville Centre, Lynbrook, Lakeview and Uniondale, officials said.