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.<\/p>\n
Citizen App video showed flames and thick smoke coming from the top of the building between Bleecker and East 2nd streets.<\/p>\n
Workers inside first-floor restaurants said they quickly evacuated after learning about the fire.<\/p>\n
One worker described the chaotic scene as firefighters arrived.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Alejandro Arce, a restaurant worker, said he believed the fire may have started with a propane tank.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
Jason Scherr, owner of Think Coffee, said he was alerted to the fire by one of his managers and rushed to the scene.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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