A Small Fire Erupted in Starbucks on Seventh Avenue

During the morning rush at on Seventh Avenue, a small fire erupted in the basement at around 9:13 a.m., FDNY officials said.

According to an FDNY spokesman, no one was injured and the mini blaze was under control within 15 minutes. Three engines, two ladders and two fire trucks responded to the call.

“The man working on the air conditioner came up from the basement and asked the staff where the fire extinguisher was,” said Elijah Avraham, who was working on his laptop in Starbucks while the fire broke out. “Smoke was coming up from the basement and the staff asked us to leave.”

Avraham said that it was a relatively calm evacuation, after it was all said and done he went back to work at the same table he was sitting at before the fire. 

According to Issam Hassan, the manager of The Newsroom the bodega next door to Starbucks between First Street and Garfield Place, a lady came into his store and said, “‘Can you believe it? There’s a fire at Starbucks, they had to evacuate the place,’” said Hassan who recounted the woman’s words. “She was pretty shaken up, but said that no one got hurt.” 

Hassan quickly left his store to see if his neighboring coffee joint was okay.

“I went outside and saw smoke coming out of the doors,” Hassan said. “It wasn’t thick, black smoke, but it was light and hazy like exhaust coming out of a car muffler.”

Hassan said that he saw firefighters helping a man breath from an oxygen mask.

At about noon, the smell of smoke still lingered in Starbucks, but the patrons were calmly sipping coffee, chatting with one another and tapping away on their laptops.

Just outside, a woman said she passed by the scene on her way to go grocery shopping.

“I was on my way to and saw the cherry picker above the roof and they were getting the hose ready,” said Anne Erde, who said she was in front of Starbucks at 9:15 a.m. and when she got back from the store it was all over.

Across Seventh Avenue, employees watched as staff and patrons funneled out of building.

“About three Starbucks employees grabbed pastries on their way out,” said Luz who works at Connecticut Muffin on the corner of First Street. “It didn’t seem that serious.”