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Fire destroys bagel shop in Forest Hills

Fire destroys bagel shop in Forest Hills
By Howard Koplowitz

A two-alarm fire tore through a six-story Queens Boulevard building Friday, gutting a convenience store on the first floor and damaging an adjacent storefront, fire officials said.

There were no injuries from the fire and the cause was still under investigation as of Friday, a spokesman for the Fire Department said.

The spokesman said the blaze was confined to just the store on the first floor of the six-story building.

The blaze began at around 11:04 a.m. inside Forest Hills Bagels at 112-10 Queens Blvd. in Forest Hills, fire officials said.

The fire reached a second alarm at around 11:22 a.m. and was put under control at around noon by about 106 firefighters from 25 units, fire officials said.

“We lost a lot of things,” said Anamul Hoqu, the owner of Forest Hills Bagels, as he stood outside his damaged store near the 75th Avenue subway station, where flattened bags of Fritos, Cheez Doodles and potato chips littered the street.

Hoqu, who was not in the store at the time of the blaze, said three employees were working when the fire erupted, but they escaped without injury.

The fire also damaged the ceiling of Albert Shoe Repair, a business next to the convenience store.

“I just walked inside and everybody said, ‘Fire, fire, fire,” so I went out,” said the owner of the shoe business, who asked to be identified as Albert.

Albert said he estimated there was $5,000 in damage to his store.

Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 718-260-4573.