A firefighter carries the 5-gallon sauce containers that sources say sparked the fire. (Christopher Sadowski)
A fire erupted at a Midtown sushi restaurant last night after a worker haphazardly carried gasoline in soy sauce containers, sources said.
“I was pouring a round of Jack Daniels,” said ENO restaurant bartender Adele Mackenzie. “The next thing I know the bus boy was on fire.”
Mackenzie said that 10 Upstate New York tree trimmers who were in town for hurricane Sandy relief efforts and who happened to be eating at ENO, tackled the busboy to put out the flames.
In addition to the busboy, the chef and a server were also burned in the 10 p.m. blaze. The three workers were taken to Cornell Burn Center for 1st and 2nd degree burns, according to witnesses and fire officials .
Sources said the fire started as a worker carried two 5-gallon sauce containers filled with gasoline from the basement into the kitchen. Somehow, the fuel spilled on the kitchen floor and ignited, according to Deputy Chief Thomas McKavanagh.