Fire-Damaged Newbridge Inn Will Repair, Reopen Within 3 Months: Owner

NORTH BELLMORE, NY — The owner of a popular North Bellmore restaurant vows to rebuild after a fire forced the Newbridge Inn to shut this week.

An electrical fire started Monday morning in the basement, where it caused significant damage. It began to spread to the main portion of the eatery upstairs.

"There's a lot of smoke and water damage," owner Gary Francke told Patch. "We'll probably be off two to three months."

No one was injured in the blaze, and Francke credits a neighboring restaurant for saving his livelihood.

"The [Authentic] Thai restaurant is usually closed, just happened to be there for the Thai New Year," he said. "[They] saw the smoke and called it in. Without that, the place would have been gone."

Francke said the Inn's power remains off and fire officials are still investigating, although he was told the preliminary findings indicate "it looks like an electrical fire in the ice machines."

Now the renovations are underway, which include replacing several floor joists.

A GoFundMe page has received more than $16,000 in donations, which Francke finds the support from the community, "overwhelming."

He points out that every penny raised "goes to keep my staff. They're all volunteering to help me; now I can pay them to come in," Francke said. "Hundred percent of everything goes to my employees."

Francke and his workers have been busy in cleanup mode while waiting for the go-ahead to make repairs ahead of his reopening of the Newbridge Inn.

"No question, no doubt," he said.