IThis morning September 1st, a large fire broke out in the Tony's Bar and Cafe building in New Bedford, Massachusetts, ensnaring the mixed-use establishment in a fiery nightmare. The blaze quickly gripped both the first and second floors, emitting vast plumes of smoke as it consumed the structure according to NBC Boston.
At around 6:30 a.m., the fire department received word of the unfolding tragedy, with initial reports stating that people were still in the building during the fiery onslaught. As firefighters scrambled to quell the blaze, they made entry into the second-floor apartments, where they had the fortune to securely evacuate all tenants per ABC 6 News.
With the fire proving troublesome to completely extinguish, a partial building collapse soon followed, forcing firefighters to withdraw from the structure and to continuingly tackle the inferno from outside, as reported by the New Bedford Fire Department. The roof collapse rendered two firefighters injured, who were subsequently taken to St. Luke's Hospital for treatment of their minor injuries.
As the flames steadily raged on, the situation for the building began to deteriorate, with fire officials speculating that even the whole structure was at risk of collapsing as per ABC 6 News. Placing priority on both the safety of the public and those combating the blaze, bus stops located on County Street and Rockdale Avenue were rendered inaccessible amid the emergency response efforts.
The origin of the fire remains a mystery, as it is still unknown whether the devastating blaze commenced in the business itself or enveloped one of the apartments according to ABC 6 News.
