(Lower Manhattan-WABC, October 29, 2004) -- Early Friday morning, a massive fire burned through a building in the financial district. Flames burned between the buildings and threatened an adjacent apartment building.
Fire crews have been working so hard to get this fire under control and around 6:00 a.m. this morning it was finally under control. Becket's Bar and Grill went up in flames around 2:00 a.m. this morning.
It has been a huge challenge for the 175 firefighters on the scene and Pearl Street is extremely narrow. It is very tough to get the equipment in. The fire started on the third floor and quickly spread to the rest of the building.
When fire crews first arrived, they went inside, but the smoke and fire was too intense.
Fire Chief: "It was a very difficult fire here. Upon arrival, the units were met with heavy fire on the third floor. They made a great effort to try to extinguish the fire. It was a defensive operation until we had a handle on the situation."
Early this morning, firefighters were busy knocking out the hot spots. Eight firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling this blaze. Also some residents from a nearby apartment building, five adults and four children had to be evacuated until they got the fire under control.
So far, the cause of this fire is unknown and the fire marshal is now on the scene.
