Businesses React to Gas Main Fire Aftermath

Less than 24 hours after a and fire at the intersection of North Broadway and First Avenue in Nyack, local businesses are getting back into the swing of things.

"I was here and we were open when this all started yesterday," said Gena Lisanti of Gena Lisa Lingerie. "The flame was enormous and there was nobody around to justify what was going on. They had been working on the street so I didn't know if the flame was burning by intention but obviously it wasn't. I didn't leave until they forced us to evacuate but our power and gas seems to be fine and I just want the town and street back to normal for business as soon as possible."

One business owner relies on gas service to put out some of the tastiest items in downtown Nyack. Cris Spezial, owner of , returned to his business on North Broadway as the fire was burning and was pleasently surprised to see a smaller flame, his pilot lights, were still lit.

"I came back down here [Nyack Gourmet] yesterday around 5 p.m. in the midst of all of it because I have a lot of catering to take care of and need to keep my clients in mind," Spezial said. "I never lost gas service. The O&R representative who was out there was extremely helpful. I think O&R and the Nyack Fire Department handled it really well. I don't have gas at my house a mile from here but I have gas here and we're are just feet from the incident." 

Things were a little more hectic over at .

"It was really a stressful night," said Nyack Mayor Jen White. "The flames were very tall. Honestly, the Nyack Fired Department did an amazing job. They and the police got there very quickly and had everything contained. O&R got there quickly but it was stressful waiting for them to stop the gas and the flame and get things back under control."

There are about 100 O&R natural gas technicians continuing with the labor-intensive process of restoring gas service on Friday. O&R shut off gas service to 385 customers in Nyack on Thursday to extinguish the natural gas fire, according to the Village of Nyack.

"We all took a really deep breath when the flames finally went away," White added. "There were three apartments that were damaged by heat and by water. How long those people will be displaced is unclear. The buildng owner has people working on it right now."

She noted that the village does not take responsibility for the damages and O&R has set up a communications center in Village Hall that is open and running Friday afternoon for people who want to reach out to them about any gas outages they might be experiencing.