LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) — A fire on a rooftop deck Thursday afternoon sent flames and heavy smoke into the air above a building on the Bowery, forcing restaurant workers to evacuate and causing damage to at least one business.
Citizen App video showed flames and thick smoke coming from the top of the building between Bleecker and East 2nd streets.
Workers inside first-floor restaurants said they quickly evacuated after learning about the fire.
One worker described the chaotic scene as firefighters arrived.
“It was crazy. I was not expecting that. When I got out, I saw all the firefighters come in here and everything happened so fast,” the worker said.
The fire broke out on a deck on the roof around noon and took about an hour for crews to bring under control. Authorities said propane tanks were recovered from the scene.
Alejandro Arce, a restaurant worker, said he believed the fire may have started with a propane tank.
“For what I know, everything started with a propane tank. And I don’t know how it spread, but there was a wooden deck on the rooftop, and that’s why we got a fire on our rooftop,” he said.
Jason Scherr, owner of Think Coffee, said he was alerted to the fire by one of his managers and rushed to the scene.
“Got a call from one of my managers, and then there was a fire. And I usually spend time over on Mercer Street,” he said. “So I came running over. And then my team had already left. They were already on the street, and everyone was safe.”
Workers began cleaning up shortly after the fire was extinguished. Scherr said Think Coffee was not impacted by the fire, but neighboring business Shifka suffered water damage inside.
“We had some orders, DoorDash orders, of course, we cannot make them right now because nobody’s inside. So we have to cancel those orders, I guess,” a worker said.
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