DNA Info – February 22, 2017
by Gwynne Hogan
WILLIAMSBURG — A fire broke out Tuesday at a Williamsburg matzo factory with outstanding fines for having no sprinkler system, the FDNY and workers said.
The blaze started in a wood-burning oven that was recently installed and was being used for the first time at 4:04 a.m. at 423 Broadway, said a manager at the factory who declined to give his name.
The flames spread through the ceiling, and firefighters managed to extinguish them by 6:06 a.m., officials said.
The matzo factory is owned and run by Williamsburg’s Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar, according to city records. The congregation currently owes the city $41,293 in fines for outstanding code violations, city records show.
The violations include an open $5,000 fine from March of 2016 for not having sprinklers in the area where they had wood burning ovens or in a storage area with combustible boxes and materials, according to records kept by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
Department of Buildings spokesman Andrew Rudansky confirmed that the violation for failing to have sprinklers was still active.
A representative for the congregation didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Fire officials said no one was injured in the blaze, which was first reported by Yeshiva World News.
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