Fire closes Gourmet Glatt in Cedarhurst

An early morning fire in its basement on Thursday forced the temporary closing of Gourmet Glatt in Cedarhurst.

The store, which is typically crowded with shoppers for Shabbos throughout the day on Thrusday, will be closed until further notice, according to a statement emailed to customers. Howie Klagsburn, purchasing manager, told The Jewish Star that he expected the closure would last "just a couple of days."

The damage was said to be light and confined to the basement, with only some smoke elsewhere in the building.

"It was a minor fire and thank G-d no one was hurt," Klagsburn said.

The Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department said that it responded to an automatic alarm from the store at 3:45 am.

"The fire department found the origin of the fire in the kitchen in the store's basement," Chief David Campbell said in a statement. "Nobody was hurt and the fire was contained in the kitchen."

Campbell said the store would be closed "until the Nassau County Department of Health inspects the area, as per standard protocol."

The Inwood, Woodmere, Hewlett and Meadowmere Park fire departments assisted on site, with Long Beach and Valley Stream fire departments and Atlantic Beach Rescue standing by to cover the response area, the Lawrence-Cedarhurst department reported. Nassau County Police Ambulance and Nassau County police were on the scene as well, it said.

Gourmet Glatt's Woodmere store, at 1030 Railroad Ave., was operating Thursday, although unusually heavy traffic there was anticipated.

"We're making things as painless as possible" at the Woodmere site, Klagsburn said. In addition to fully staffed registers, "we're helping people to their cars, and street parking around the store is free."

Parking in Gourmet Glatt's Woodmere lot is also free.

All delivery orders are being processed at the Woodmere store, Gourmet Glatt said on its Facebook page.

Nassau Herald reporter Diana Colapietro contributed to this report.

Earlier: Fire stuck in 2011.