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by FERNANDA SANTOS and TONY SCLAFANI
It was hell at the Paradise Mattress factory yesterday.
A six-alarm blaze apparently sparked by a lightning bolt gutted the Brooklyn building - sending huge billows of toxic smoke across the city and nearly 300 firefighters to the rescue.
Luckily, the factory was closed and its 25 employees were off for the holiday.
Still, the city's biggest fire of the year injured at least 10 firefighters, including three who were hospitalized for smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion. One woman was treated for an asthma attack triggered by the smoke.
The ferocious fire erupted about 3:20 p.m. at 1209 De Kalb Ave., in Bushwick, and was expected to burn throughout the night - with piles of mattress stacked to the ceiling still ablaze hours after the first 911 call.
Fire marshals believe the blaze was sparked by a lightning bolt that hit an air-conditioning unit on the roof of the 2-1/2-story, 60,000-square-foot brick building.
"It felt like lightning was hitting everywhere," said neighbor Robert Ribot, 44. "But we just a heard a boom real close and we saw the smoke coming out."
Firefighters who broke through the factory's locked gate and doors quickly retreated when a section of the roof was about to collapse, officials said.
About 15 homes on nearby Cedar St. also were evacuated.
Later, a rear wall collapsed as firefighters battled the blaze from ladder trucks and a battalion chief monitored the progress from an NYPD chopper. Firefighters choked on thick smoke laced with polyurethane and other chemicals stored at the refurbishing factory. The smoke could be seen - and smelled - for miles.
"The smoke is super-, super-toxic. You can't breathe. You can't see anything," said Lt. Mark Zimmerman of Engine 233.
Distraught factory owner Robert Eissenberg was more concerned for his 25 workers than his 31-year-old business.
"These are the people I need to help," he said, "to make sure I find work for them."
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