From Newsday:
Police said Friday the fire was extinguished after several hours of effort from 150 firefighters and 40 pieces of equipment from the Port Washington, Great Neck, Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Roslyn and Manhasset fire departments.
The building suffered extensive damage, with the occupants of 11 apartments and three businesses displaced, about 30 people.
The American Red Cross assisted with temporary housing, police said.
One Port Washington firefighter was taken to a hospital where he was treated for an injured ankle. A National Grid worker was struck by falling debris but refused medical assistance at the scene.
Investigators from the county fire marshal said the blaze started in the rear and appeared to be extinguished by 8:30 p.m., when they entered the residential portion of the building.
"We got backed out because the fire lit back underneath us," James Hickman, division supervisor of investigations at the fire marshal's office, said Thursday night.
Thick smoke from the fire at the corner of Main Street and Herbert Avenue darkened the area in the afternoon. As children went home from school, they covered their faces with scarves. Crossing guards and police wore filtered face masks.
Dozens of residents and workers watched their homes and livelihoods burn in the three-story building, from families with young children to a barbershop owner.
"All my stuff is gone," said John Cleva, 22, who lived in a first-floor apartment.
Cleva, a chef at Yamaguchi, a Japanese restaurant in the building, was off work and asleep when he heard loud noises and police shouting, "Wake up! Wake up!"
He ran out in his sweatpants, T-shirt and Croc shoes. And as the hours went by, all he could do was watch the fire, his arms wrapped around him against the chill.
"I just grabbed my cellphone," said Cleva, adding he has no family to turn to in this country because they live in Japan. "What am I going to do?"
Not far off, the owner of Steve's Barbershop said he was cutting the hair of a firefighter when he stopped.
"Do you smell smoke?" Steve Aminov said he asked his client.
They did not see any smoke, but the firefighter ordered everyone in the shop to leave, Aminov said.
As firefighters tried to put out flames in a third-floor apartment, water poured down into the barbershop, its windows damaged.
"I have four kids at home," said Aminov, 45, of Forest Hills. "My wife is not working. I don't know what I'm going to do."
A firefighter also ran into Yamaguchi and warned a full house of diners to evacuate.
"The guy started screaming, 'Everyone has to get out,' " recalled chef Yasu Matsue, 51.
John Miller, head of Red Cross on Long Island, said an overnight shelter was set up at the Port Washington senior center for 25 adults and six children, who came from seven of the 11 apartments damaged.
