A two-alarm fire tore through a barbershop in the Bronx late Thursday night, sending five people to the hospital, two of them in critical condition. The blaze broke out at La Roca Barbershop on West Burnside Avenue, in the Morris Heights section, at around 9:40 p.m.
Emergency crews rushed five people to hospitals from the scene. A 29-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman were listed in critical condition, while three men, ages 49, 51 and 52, were taken in stable condition, according to officials.
The flames did not stay confined to the barbershop. The fire also damaged the business next door, a Chinese restaurant identified as Ming Wang, as the two-alarm blaze spread through the row of storefronts along the avenue.
By the time the fire was knocked down, debris had been left strewn across the sidewalk outside the shops. Fire marshals returned to the scene to assess the destruction and begin piecing together what happened.
Among the items recovered from the wreckage were two electric scooters. Investigators did not immediately say whether the scooters played any role in the fire, and the exact cause remained undetermined as the inquiry got under way.
Fire marshals were still working to determine the origin of the blaze. In the hours after the flames were extinguished, officials cautioned that the investigation was in its early stages and that no cause had yet been established.
The fire has left two small businesses on West Burnside Avenue heavily damaged, with no timeline yet for when either might reopen. The conditions of the two people taken in critical condition were being closely monitored as the neighborhood absorbed the aftermath of the overnight emergency.