By PAUL KIRBY
Freeman staff
pkirby@freemanonline.com; twitter.com/PaulatFreeman

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. — The Empire Mart & Deli on Hurley Avenue was destroyed on Tuesday by a fire that sent flames through the roof and thick, black smoke high into the air.

An attached vacant restaurant space, which was a pizzeria until two weeks ago, was heavily damaged by the fire.

No one was injured in the blaze, according to Spring Lake Fire Department Chief Doc Cranston. State police said two employees were in the convenience store when the fire started at 3:45 p.m. but were able to get out safely.

The store is at 454 Hurley Ave., next to John A. Coleman Catholic High School.

Cranston said the cause of the fire remained under investigation Friday evening. A state trooper said one of the employees described hearing an electrical-like “pop” at the outset of the fire.

The blaze drew dozens of firefighters from multiple departments and about a dozen pieces of apparatus, Cranston said.

Police kept onlookers at bay while the fire burned. Some watched from a parking lot across the street.

The fire was under control in about an hour, but firefighters remained at the scene past nightfall, and Hurley Avenue near the store remained closed to traffic.



Gas pumps on the property were unaffected by the fire. Continued...

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The name of the building’s owner was not immediately available.

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