NY Daily News - August 30, 2010

Flames broke out in the row of storefront businesses on Flatbush Ave., between Lott Place and Flatlands Ave., shortly before 1 a.m. and raged for more than three hours.

The FDNY's response reached a third alarm, with 32 units and some 140 firefighters deployed.

By the time the blaze was brought under control, at 4:35 a.m., a total of six businesses were gutted, including a few mom-and-pop stores that had been in operation for generations.

One of those longtime establishments was Dave's Bagel Shop. The store's former owner, Bruce Benkel, 59, who lives in Flatlands, surveyed the damage Sunday.

"I'm really stunned. You know these things can happen, but you never think they will," he said. "It was always my worst nightmare as a business owner."

No civilians were injured in the blaze, which sent one firefighters to Kings County Hospital with a minor injury, Fire Department officials said.

Fire Marshals were investigating the cause of the fire, which is thought to have broken out in a Chinese restaurant on the strip.

Firefighters were able to control the blaze before it destroyed other businesses.

One of those was a Chase bank that suffered damage to the portion of the branch that houses its automated teller machine.

Another store that was spared - albeit with significant water damage - was Brooklyn's Best Locksmith and Hardware.

"I was a nervous wreck when I got here," said the store's owner, Adam Butrico, 48, who described the scene this way: "The whole block seemed fully engulfed in flames. You couldn't breathe."

Butrico thought he was reliving a nightmare, recalling how a store he had across the street that he lost in 1997 when the building collapsed.

"My first reaction was, 'Oh my God! This happened again!'" Butrico said, praising the firefighters for preventing the flames from spreading to his store.

"The firefighters did a great job... . You can't beat the FDNY."