The afternoon quiet of Chinatown on a gloomy 4Th of July holiday was shattered by the sound of fire engines racing to yet another building fire in Chinatown. This time at 42 Mulberry Street. At around 1:50pm residents of a nearby building were alarmed by the smell of smoke and found smoke coming from 42 Mulberry Street which housed a popular dumpling shop and the Yu & Me Bookstore. As one resident raced to warn neighbors in the nearby building another called 911 to report.
FDNY engines arrived within minutes of the call and proceeded to gain access to the smoldering fire on the 2nd floor of 42 Mulberry Street. As the FDNY ladder company extended equipment in preparation to rescue inhabitants, a resident used the fire escape a lower floor before firefighters assisted him onto ladder.
Heavy smoke plumed from a window where the fire was suspected to have originated as firefighters broke through windows to gain access. Once inside they discovered an elderly resident in his 70s and his dog on the floor and pulled them to the street. Firefighters tried in vain to resuscitate the bulldog named Bam Bam and his owner Frank Yee was transported to a hospital where he remains in critical condition in the ICU unit. The remains of Bam Bam were removed by the ASPCA.
Sources say the fire started in the bedroom area but no exact cause has been determined. Luckily the smoldering fire was contained to one apartment and the building itself was relatively unscathed.
Although windows to many units were broken by FDNY personnel contractors appeared this morning to measure for replacement windows. Tasty Dumplings apparently had no damage and re-opened for business this morning. Yu & Me books however suffered water damage and a crew was there to dry floors,
