Fire Damages Building and Shuts Down Hempstead Turnpike

An electrical fire caused significant damage to the inside of Auto World on Hempstead Turnpike on Saturday, although nobody was injured, officials said.

The North Bellmore Fire Department responded to the call just after 10:30 a.m., and the East Meadow Fire Department's fast team was called in to lend a hand.

"The electrical fire started above the showroom area," North Bellmore Fire Chief David Marschall said. "It went through the rafters and ended up in the back service area."

Employees were sitting at their desks during what is usually a busy workday when they were called outside for what they thought was a fire drill.

"I didn't even see any flames," said one employee, who chose to remain anonymous. "They told us to go out the back door, and then I saw the smoke and knew it was for real."

All the employees evacuated the building, and shortly thereafter, fire officials responded. After extinguishing the fire, the next step was to open up all the doors to get all of the smoke out.

"We vented the building out," Marschall said. "Now we have to wait for the fire marshal to check the building because there is a good amount of damage."

LIPA also responded to make sure the power was off while the fire department was putting out the fire.

"The fire department asked us to disconnect the power to the building as a precaution," spokesman Scott Garver said.

Police shut down the eastbound side of Hempstead Turnpike in between Newbridge Road and Taylor Avenue. Motorists are encouraged to use alternative routes.

UPDATE: All lanes of Hempstead Turnpike have been reopened as of 2:45 p.m.

This is a breaking news story, and Patch will be sure to update it as we get more information.