A large fire ripped through a landmark movie theater in The Bronx this afternoon, authorities said.
The two-alarm blaze began shortly before 4 p.m. at the Loews Paradise Theater on the Grand Concourse in Fordham Heights while welders were doing renovation work.
It was spared structural harm — but did suffer smoke damage, authorities said.
More than 150 firefighters battled the blaze in the basement and top floor — both spots where the welders had been working.
Bravest extinguished the flames about 5:20 p.m., according to an FDNY spokesman. Two firefighters were injured and brought to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition.
The theater was designed as a “movie palace,” large and elaborately designed, by architect John Eberson between 1910 and the 1940s. It was built in the late 1920s and became a New York City landmark in 1997.
One person who was looking into leasing the building, but did not wish to be identified, said the theater had been renovated several years ago and was very popular in the neighborhood.
“Thank God the fire was not that bad,” he said.
Local teacher Anna Gist, 51, was upset by the blaze.
“That theater means a lot to the people of The Bronx,” she said. “It’s a landmark.”