West Orange bakery reopens after fire
Staff Writer, New Jersey Jewish News
The West Orange Bake Shop was forced to close briefly after a small fire broke out under the oven on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 24. It reopened on Wednesday in time for the three-day-holiday period that included Shemini Atzeret, Simhat Torah, and Shabbat.
But on Sunday, Sept. 29, it was closed; a note greeted patrons explaining that it hoped to be back to full operation by “the middle of this week.”
“Mostly, there was some wood smoldering under the oven, although it did ignite briefly,” said owner Yitzi Mittel. “There was actually more damage next door, to my neighbor, than here, from the smoke.”
The fire lasted no more than two minutes, according to Mittel, and was out by the time the fire truck arrived.
Although the bakery brought in outside hallah to sell on Wednesday, the cakes and pastries were unaffected. More important, Mittel said, he expects the bakery to be completely back to normal by Oct. 4.
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