Official: Avalon Garden City to reopen

One day after a fire started by a workman's torch destroyed a building under construction at a new apartment complex in East Garden City, the manager of the site pledged to be back in business Friday.

Matthew Whalen, vice president for development at Avalon Garden City, praised the "rapid and efficient response" of the Uniondale Fire Department, and said in a statement that the leasing office at the site on Mitchel Field Way will reopen Friday.

Officials said one building with 15 partially constructed units was destroyed when a worker soldering a pipe inside a wall with a blowtorch accidentally touched off a blaze Wednesday.

More than 100 firefighters from 10 departments responded, led by Uniondale, and extinguished the blaze. One volunteer from Uniondale suffered a shoulder injury, was treated at a hospital and later released.

The development is expected to be completed this year. When finished, the complex, owned and operated by AvalonBay Communities Inc., of Virginia, will have 224 apartment units, the company said.