by TIM VASSILAKOS
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A fire gutted a two-story town home in Mariners Harbor yesterday and neighbors are wondering if a bathroom renovation had any connection.
Flames roaring more than 30 feet into the air heavily damaged the home at 211B Maple Parkway, off Forest Avenue, where the blaze erupted at 4:32 p.m.
Twenty-five units and 106 firefighters responded to the two-alarm blaze. Six firefighters were taken to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton for minor injuries, according to EMS Capt. Robert Rousso.
Fire officials said contractors were renovating the upstairs bathroom of the townhouse, which was built in the 1980s. The workers sat outside the house -- tools by their side -- as the blaze ravaged the townhouse. They refused to comment.
"I know that contractors have been in and out of the house, renovating it," said an anonymous closeby neighbor.
The occupant of the townhouse, a woman who appeared to be in her 20s, stood outside her charred home, but refused to comment.
"This house is done," said Deputy Chief Roger Sakowich of Division 8. "The flames were pretty bad, it ripped right through the ceiling of the attic easily."
Broken windows, pieces of fence, roof shingles, and what looked like blackened living-room furniture, was scattered on the sidewalk.
The apartment below, 211A, had substantial water and smoke damage.
"Around 4 p.m. I saw a little smoke start to build up outside, and the nauseating smell filled my house," said Emanuel Epharin, an immediate neighbor who has lived in Mariners Harbor for 11 years. "In a matter of minutes the smoke was huge and dark, I could see the house melting, but the firefighters got here real quick."
The fire was brought under control at 5:32 p.m.
"There's always something going on in this neighborhood," said one neighbor. "It's not really a quiet area."
 |
