Two firefighters were hurt in a 3-alarm fire Monday morning as the blaze tore through a historic building in the Elm City.
It took crews three hours to get the flames under control and when the smoke cleared, the structure that was built in the 1800s was in ruins.
"It’s been here for years and years and years. The trolleys came right through here years ago and here was a school and it was important for the neighborhood," Diana Nashtri, the building's manager, said.
The two-story building was a staple in East Grand Avenue. Over the last century, it has been home to a bar and most recently, the Lincoln Flower Shop. But around 6 a.m. Monday, a raging fire destroyed it.
Fire officials said the blaze started in the basement and quickly spread because of the old construction.
"The biggest challenge was the fact the fire is concealed with many voids," said Chief Michael Grant, of the New Haven Fire Department.
The smoke caused minor injuries to two firefighters who were treated for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion, Grant said. The fire also forced tenants from seven apartments in the adjoining building to evacuate. Once the fire was out, officials allowed some people back inside to salvage what they could.
Among them the owner of Lincoln Flower Shop, who lost everything, and the building's manager Diana Nashtri.
Nashtri was able to save some files, furniture and photos, but what couldn’t be saved was the building.
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"Unfortunately it's going to go to the ground and we're going to start again and make it look exactly how it looked," Nashtri said.
The fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.
