An OTBKB reader wrote in to report a fire on Fifth Avenue and 17th Street earlier today.

I don’t know if you’re aware of this but there is a TERRIBLE fire on 5th Avenue and 17th Street.  Total destruction but, so I’ve heard…fingers crossed…nobody hurt.

It seems to have started in the grocery at noon and they still don’t have it under control. Many people lost their homes, the art gallery on the corner was destroyed. My daughter (who lives up there) just stopped by and she smelled like smoke. They can’t stay in their home tonight because it’s filled with smoke and fumes.

The Brooklyn Paper has more details. Here’s an excerpt:

A raging fire ripped through a Park Slope Associated Supermarket on Friday afternoon, closing off Fifth Avenue between 17th and 18th streets in all directions for several hours.

Firefighters were called to the fire at 12:15 pm. Three hours later, they were still battling the conflagration, which consumed most of the supermarket and was eating its way through the upper floors of the three-story corner building, according to an FDNY spokesman.