An April 7 fire in a second-floor apartment at 98 Mineola Blvd.—which also houses Wong’s Noodle House—was sparked by unsanctioned plumbing work, Mineola officials revealed last week.
According to Village Building Superintendent Dan Whalen, the building owner, 104 Mineola Blvd. LLC, did not have the required permits to do plumbing work on file. Arcadio Matias, superintendent of the building, could not be reached for comment. The building department is notifying Matias and his workers, both of who will appear before the village court in May.
The Mineola Fire Department received the call at noon and rushed to the scene. “The fire didn’t spread far,” MFD Chief Jeff Clark said. “Luckily, no one was hurt.”
The timely response mitigated the impact on the connected buildings. “[The fire] was confined to one room in the apartment,” Whalen said. “The fire department did a good job containing it. [The owners] did not have permits for the work being conducted that sparked the fire.”
According to Mineola fire officials, two individuals were sweating pipes with a torch in the second-floor apartment’s bathroom, which is next to a bedroom closet near where a tenant was sleeping. The closet, filled with clothes, caught fire and awoke the resident.
The building department investigated the incident in conjunction with the Nassau County Fire Marshal’s office and found the blaze occurred due to “human error” during plumbing work.
“There was just a lot of smoke,” Mineola businessman Jason Nyberg said at the scene. He was walking to work at the time of the incident. “The trucks got here pretty quick.
“I hope everyone is okay up there,” he added. “I’m going to miss Wong’s Noodle House and hope it reopens soon.”
Wong’s suffered severe water damage. Ceiling tiles were seen hanging while tables and chairs appeared destroyed. A spokesperson from Wong’s at the scene declined to comment.
Mineola fire officials said two residents and one worker were transported to Winthrop University Hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. Four residents in total were displaced because of the fire.
Mineola was aided by units from the Williston Park, New Hyde Park, Garden City Park and Garden City fire departments.
