by KAREEM FAHIM
A four-alarm fire consumed the upper floors of a parking garage in Chelsea early yesterday, igniting the gas tanks of cars parked there and sending a plume of thick black smoke more than a mile to the east, the authorities said.
Six firefighters were slightly hurt fighting the blaze, which started on the fifth floor of the six-floor garage at 422 West 15th Street, between Ninth and 10th Avenues, fire officials said. It was not clear how many cars were destroyed or damaged, but fire officials said more than 100 were parked on all floors of the garage.
The fire, on a block of businesses that includes a lumberyard and a film-equipment rental company, covered a neighborhood that includes some of the city's most fashionable shops with a layer of dirty water and ashes. A maze of hoses covered the cobblestones in front of stores like La Perla, a luxury clothing store on 14th Street, where firefighters toiled at a command post in front of a mannequin wearing a black lace chemise.
Firefighters pouring water on the rear of the garage, on the south side of 15th Street, aimed their hoses from 14th Street, watched by slightly bored store workers who waited to open their boutiques.
Reached by telephone last evening, Elizabeth Paddock, the manager of La Perla, said her boutique and several nearby stores would probably not reopen until this afternoon, at the earliest.
The fire started just before 7:30 a.m. and was brought under control shortly after 1 p.m., fire officials said.
Anxious car owners stood behind police barricades at either end of 15th Street, wondering about the fate of their vehicles.
Jose Pichardo, who works in the Chelsea Market, across the street, said he pays $300 a month to park his Lexus there. "I commute from Nyack," he said, adding that if his car was destroyed, he would start borrowing his girlfriend's.
Adam Schlackman, a television producer who had parked his Audi in the building, said, "You don't expect the parking garage to just blow up." He showed reporters his parking stub, which said in fine print that in case of fire, theft or explosion, the garage was liable for up to $25,000. "That's about 10 grand short," he said, adding that his own insurance would probably cover any damage.
The first alarm was turned in after three garage employees traveling up in the building's elevator smelled smoke, according to Juan Bernal, a garage employee.
About 200 firefighters fought the fire, largely from outside because of fears about the structural integrity of the building, exploding gas tanks and popping car tires, said Chief Peter Hayden. The fire caused the roof and the fifth-floor ceiling to partly collapse, said Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the Buildings Department.
Colin Moynihan contributed reporting for this article.
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