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Jan. 15--NEW HAVEN -- A fire destroyed a State Street pizza restaurant Saturday morning, and firefighters rescued residents living on the second floor.
The building, at 858 State St., houses the Da Legna Wood-Fired Pizza restaurant on the ground floor. Black smoke and flames were billowing from the building.
The two-alarm fire was called in at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, and it took firefighters over an hour to fully extinguish it. Portions of the building's
The restaurant is the site of the former Amato's Pizza.
Fire Chief Michael Grant said firefighters rescued five people from the second floor, including three children, a teenager and one adult.
"They are all okay, and the American Red Cross will be helping them out with finding lodging," Grant said.
As of Saturday afternoon, Grant said the fire department had not yet determined the cause of the blaze, which remains under investigation.
Alderwoman Jessica Holmes, D-9, said the fire started in the kitchen, where a wood-burning stove had recently been installed, and spread to the upper floors and all sides of the building.
"The fire started on the first floor, and went to the walls and spread horizontally and vertically," Grant said. "It was a very stubborn fire to fight."Sandra Durso, a waitress who has worked at the restaurant for seven years, including when it was called Amato's, stood outside as firefighters worked to battle the blaze. "We have a new owner, who did a beautiful job remodeling, and this is heartbreaking to see this happen," Durso said.
Durso said she had been on her way to work, but couldn't get down the street because it was blocked off due to the fire. She walked the rest of the way, and she and other employees stood outside, comforting each other.
"It is just an awful thing," Durso said. "The owner had remodeled it with a new wood-burning oven in December. We were closed for remodeling in December, and the oven came from Italy."
Cheyenne Bernardo, a cashier at the business who also stood outside watching the firefighting efforts, said she was coming to work and saw the fire. Her husband, Jose Mendez, said, "It is sad."
Art Brennan, who lives on Bradley Street, said he could see smoke from the highway as he drove home from North Haven.
"It is great pizza -- it is very unfortunate," he said.
Three cats died in the fire and one is in critical care at Central Animal Hospital.
Mona, a dog, is also in the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.The owner of the dog and cats has not been located.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at 203-789-5707. Follow her on Twitter at nhrinvestigate.
