The building on Fordham Road caught fire early Wednesday morning, resulting in one injury. Michael Charboneau/The Fordham Ram
By Michael Charboneau
A fire broke out early Wednesday morning at 570 East Fordham Road, the building that houses Pete’s Café and families upstairs.
According to Peter Zervas, the building’s owner, the fire began on the second floor of the building, gutting the apartment on that floor and causing some damage to the apartment above it. Pete’s sustained smoke and water damage but was not directly hit by the flames. News 12: The Bronx reports that the families living in both apartments escaped unharmed, though one person was injured as a result of the fire.
The Fire Department of New York (FDNY) will not release details on the cause of the blaze at this time, as it is pending a formal report. According to the FDNY Twitter feed, the fire was reported at 3:20 a.m. and was contained by firefighters by 4 a.m.
Zervas spoke with the families, the owner of Pete’s and the fire marshal of the FDNY earlier this morning. He spoke with the families, the owner of Pete’s and the fire marshal of the FDNY earlier this morning. “…the only thing [the fire marshal] told me is that it looks like an accident,” Zervas said.
Terrance Koar, GSB ’15, lives just down the street from the building. He awoke to the sound of sirens in the middle of the night and discovered the cause of the commotion on his walk to work. “The whole corner’s blocked off,” he said, “and the side of the building’s … all charred.”
Blackened rubble and the burnt remnants of a mattress still littered the sidewalk on Hoffman Street as of Wednesday afternoon, but Zervas had swept off the debris on the Fordham Road sidewalk and has hired a cleaning company to remove the remaining debris.
As for Pete’s Cafe, a popular off-campus eatery for many Fordham students, the damage is not catastrophic — though the café will remain closed for the time being. The building will need to be secured and the gas restored before the restaurant can reopen. “We hope with[in] a week or two the restaurant should be open,” Zervas said. “It’s not a total loss.”
For the families residing upstairs, however, the situation is much worse. Both will have to find other places to live while their apartments are rebuilt.
“It’s a sad situation, nobody wants to be in that position,” said Zervas. Even so, Zervas remains optimistic and is already planning out how he will restore his building. Despite the damage, his main concern is for the safety of his tenants.
“The rest is just stucco and bricks,” he said. “Life goes on.”
