pizza shop goes up in smoke
pizza shop goes up in smoke
By David Greene
A Fordham pizza shop testing their oven before their grand opening, suffered a devastating fire that closed their shop as well as several others.
Fire officials were called to Giovanni Pizza, located at 2537 Webster Avenue, at E. Fordham Road, at 10:30 a.m., on Saturday, July 18.
Over 100 firefighters responded to the blaze, which also caused extensive damage at an adjacent Sprint/Nextel store, a check cashing company, and a law office on the second floor of the two-story building.
Initial reports stated that employees were testing the commercial oven, which was situated behind a double wall. A source says fire officials had to pull out the oven before they could attack the fire inside the walls.
According to a source, Giovanni's was issued four violation points from the Department of Health, on July 8, for unspecified reasons, but that claim could not be confirmed.
No injuries were reported and the fire was brought under control after about forty minutes.
As of July 20, the Sprint/Nextel shop at 3370 E. Fordham Road was still closed. A representative of Sprint/Nextel in New Mexico did not know the extent of damage the store suffered or when they would reopen.
Thursday, July 23, 2009