Fire rages through north Jersey strip mall

Fire rages through north Jersey strip mall

Zadies bakery, among new and beloved old stores, destroyed — at least for now

The Fair Lawn fire department fought the flames as the strip mall burned on July 26. (Courtesy of Bill Tompkins)
The Fair Lawn fire department fought the flames as the strip mall burned on July 26. (Courtesy of Bill Tompkins)

Rachel Wishnia of Fair Lawn, who has shopped at Zadies Bake Shop since it opened 19 years ago, says she loves the store because “nobody makes challah like Zadies.”

Her 4-year-old grandson, Avishai, is also a fan. “When he comes to visit and sees a Zadies box,” she said, he asks her, with hope, “cheese Danish?”

Zadies also supplies local and regional supermarkets with challot, which are customer favorites. There was a run on them in Fair Lawn supermarkets as soon as news of the fire spread.

Zadies was among the stores that were severely damaged when a two-alarm fire burned through a strip mall in Fair Lawn just after 2:30 a.m. last Friday, July 26.

The Green Dragon restaurant; Petaks Kosher Catering; a new glatt kosher restaurant called Fair Lawn Roadhouse; Mashu Mashu Sushi, which is inside Mashu Mashu; Flynn’s Barbershop; Dream on Lash, and Regency Cleaners also were damaged.

Zadies’ owner, Adam Steinberg, reported that several fire engines responded to a 911 call from one of his bakers, and that the men and equipment arrived in about 10 minutes. No one was injured, and investigators still are probing the cause of the blaze. It seems that the origin may have been in the Green Dragon, the restaurant at the far end of the Fair Lawn Avenue strip, according to a Zadies worker and eyewitness.

“We have a bread crew that works overnight to bake all the bread,” Mr. Steinberg said. “At about 1:30 or 2, the head bread baker noticed that it was starting to get smoky and it was hotter than usual. He went outside to check and saw smoke pouring out of the Green Dragon. He called 911 at 2:30 to report the fire.”

From what Mr. Steinberg was able to learn, the reason the flames spread so rapidly was because of the shape of the roof in front. “It’s pitched, like a crawl space area, through the whole shopping center,” he said. “The fire hit the roof and spread across, right up to the cleaners.”

The roof caved in, causing major damage. His store, he said, is “a total loss.”

Although Mr. Steinberg still doesn’t know how the fire started, he said that “the owner of the sushi restaurant” — Green Dragon — “says he left at 11 after doing a thorough check of the place, as he does every night.”

Mr. Steinberg has spoken with the other storekeepers about what to do in the aftermath of the destruction, “but they all have their own insurance and adjusters. The Fair Lawn mayor has reached out, and we’ve had a ton of support from customers, our families, and the entire community.

“This community has always been extremely supportive.”

News of the fire caused a run on Zadies products in local supermarkets. Here, the shelves in Paramus in ShopRite were almost empty by the next morning. (Ruth Smith)

Alona and Moshe Berow, the owners of the Roadhouse, also expressed their appreciation to the community. In an open letter, Mr. Berow wrote, “As we sit on Motzei Shabbat trying to take stock of all that happened on Friday and what we have looming before us now, it seems most important that we take out a moment to express our amazement at the outpouring of love and support we have received from this incredible community.

“Late in the day, on Friday, I was told (incorrectly, as it turns out) that once the building was boarded shut, I would not get access to it again, and that it would be torn down in a matter of days. Given that impossible deadline, with Shabbat looming less than 2 hours away, what choice did I have but to do whatever I could in the short time left? I sent a message to 2 chats, 120 members total, anyone who could spare the time to come help.

“In truth, I didn’t expect anyone to come: it was nearly candlelighting time for early Shabbat, and everyone has their own last-minute insanity on erev Shabbat. Several people showed up, I set about trying to give directions on what was most important and got back to work myself. Sometime later, maybe around 7 p.m., I walked outside carrying something, to discover that nearly 60 of my friends and neighbors had shown up and were busy getting things done,” salvaging whatever they could.

Mr. Berow was eager to highlight the selflessness of the Friday night volunteers. “I also have the immense privilege of sharing the tremendous Kiddush Hashem our community made when this group also took the time to help Jessica, the owner of Flynn’s Barbershop, despite the late hour and urgency of Shabbat coming up fast,” he wrote. “They helped her shlep (VERY) heavy barber chairs and other things she salvaged from her shop…without hesitation.”

He also offered his thanks to all the rabbis in the community. “Arona and I heard directly from nearly every Rav in Fair Lawn, regardless of our personal connections or active membership in their shuls,” he wrote. “The genuine compassion and concern for our family, for our success, and for our needs is evident all the more in how quickly the community came together with no prompting to help when it was needed.”

Fair Lawn Mayor Gail Rottenstrich also offered both support and advice. In an email, and later an open letter to the community, she wrote: “Fair Lawn is working with local, state and federal agencies to ensure that we can marshal every available resource to help the business owners. Fair Lawn Main Street Inc. has been particularly effective in introducing business owners to the resources available, including the NJ Small Business Development Center at Ramapo college, which can guide them through the process of obtaining state and federal aid while they rebuild. We have also been in communication with other Fair Lawn businesses who have generously offered to share space with the affected businesses so that they can retain their clientele.”

She added that “My office and members of the Fair Lawn Council are in close communication with the businesses and have offered all available assistance. The Fair Lawn Building Department has been working over the weekend with the property owners to secure the site and is ready to assist in the rebuilding process.”

The Fair Lawn fire department was eager to thank the other departments that helped fight the blaze. Those were the town’s police, rescue squad, office of emergency management, and volunteer ambulance corps, which, according to a press release, “provided assistance on scene.” The fire departments in Saddle Brook, Elmwood Park, Paterson, Hawthorne, Wyckoff, and Paramus provided “mutual aid,” the press release continued.

Mr. Steinberg said that over the last few years, the month of July has not been “too kind” to the bakery. In July 2019, a car crashed through its window, significantly damaging the front of the store, which closed temporarily but reopened just before Rosh Hashanah.

While the damage then was not of the same magnitude, “we are a resilient family,” Mr. Steinberg said, pointing out that his brother, stepmom, and cousin all work at the bakery. In addition, “our store manager has been with us since she’s 17. A lot of our workers are considered family.”

“We’re spitballing a plan to get our wholesale up and running, maybe at another location, and service our biggest customers,” he said. “For retail, there’s nothing concrete, but maybe a popup. We’ll have meetings over the next few weeks.”

“I’m upset, but for all our employees, it stinks. We employ a lot of people. But Hashem has a plan, and you just have to believe and have faith.” After the car crash, he said, the business came back “stronger than ever.”

Mr. Steinberg doesn’t know how long the cleanup will take, but he’s confident that things will work out. “We change with the times,” he said. “Our basic recipes are unchanged, but our customer base has grown. We’re not only a staple in the Jewish community but we also have a ton of non-Jewish clientele. We appeal to those who like good food.”

Ms. Wishnia said community members can show their support by buying Zadies products wherever they see them. Is she eager for the bakery to reopen? “Absolutely,” she said. “The sooner the better.”

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