Fire escape issue noted after D' Bocas kitchen fire

Fire officials will be following up with owners of the building housing the D’ Bocas restaurant and bar after part of the fire escape was found to be doubled up as a storage room.

Speaking at the scene of a kitchen fire on Wednesday, Fire Sub-Station Officer (FSSO) Diane Noel said the fire exit was partially blocked and the door was locked from the outside.

The fire took place in the kitchen of the establishment on the second floor of the three-storey building. According to Noel, the fire took place at 9 am and was contained without the blaze spreading from the kitchen. Workers of D’Bocas attempted to put out the fire using three fire extinguishers but were unsuccessful and fire officers were called in.

The ceiling of the kitchen suffered the most damage and the entire building had to be ventilated from the smoke. Workers from both D’ Bocas and City Gym, the latter being located on the third floor, said they had to climb over to the parking garage of Nicholas Court at the back of their building to escape, as a result of the partially blocked fire escape.

Gym instructor Angela London said she warned the authorities about the fire escape issue back in 2018 following another incident. “It's a good thing that carpark was there, because of the smoke, we could not see to come out so we had to climb over the fence and come down through the carpark to get out,” London said, adding that she and five others were in the gym at the time.

Newsday spoke with one a worker at D’ Bocas who said they were heating oil to begin cooking when the fire started. They were escorted out the back of the building then to the third floor where they climbed over a barrier to escape.