Yesterday’s fire at 196 Seventh Avenue, the building where Good Footing Adventure sells sensible Birkenstocks, Dansko and Merrell shoes to sensible Park Slope feet, was the talk of the micro-community of Seventh Avenue between 3rd and 2nd Streets.

On Friday, I walked by many times and saw the owner of the shop standing outside fielding questions from neighbors, police, firefighters and passersby.

He probably got tired of saying that he had no idea how the fire started on the roof of the building. Thankfully the fire didn’t get very far because the FDNY’s response time was rapid and they put out the fire in 16 minutes.

Fast.

But that didn’t stop them from drenching the entire building with water and causing substantial amount of water damage that way. At 5PM walking past the building, I smelled that depressing stench of charred property and heard that the tenants could not return to the building until the water damage was cleaned.

Clearly Good Footing had insurance. Fire Response, a firm that cleans up after disaster, had a bright red truck parked outside of the store and workers were hard at work cleaning the store.

I don’t think a clean up was underway for the rest of the building. Yet.  I don’t know if the landlord but I don’t think he was on the premises before, during, or after the fire.

I’m wondering how the tenants of that building are faring. Obviously they are displaced for the time being. It’s early yet, but I will walk by there in a few and find out how things are going.