Three-Alarm Fire Destroys Commercial Building On Stillwell Avenue & Surf Avenue

Officials are investigating a three-alarm fire that ripped through a commercial building near Luna Park in Coney Island last night.

The blaze started at a grocery store at 2900 Stillwell Avenue at 7:53pm, it quickly spread to Bykush, a Turkish cafe and pizzeria in the same building, and consumed at least one apartment, fire officials said.

All three floors were consumed by the flames by the time firefighters arrived on the scene, though fire officials believe the building was vacant.

“It was pretty much an exterior operation almost immediately, the building was fully involved when we got there,” a spokesperson for the FDNY told us.

There were reports that one hydrant was broken, prompting firefighters to set up a water relay from a further location. There were a total 140 firefighters on the scene. They got the blaze under control by 10:21pm.

Two minor injuries were reported. One was a civilian who refused medical attention, and the second was a firefighter who was treated at Lutheran Hospital.

The owner of Bykush, who also owns Sheepsead Bay’s Rocca Cafe, told News 12 that he had opened his restaurant only two weeks ago, and now it was destroyed.

Witnesses told NBC that they saw the neon lights from the store signs exploding.

“All of a sudden we saw the wires popping,” Jose Alicia told the news outlet.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Many dramatic photos of the blaze were posted on Twitter last night:

Reader Simon Wong sent us this footage of the fire:

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