A six-alarm fire broke out late Wednesday night, gutting Ferraro's, the storied Westfield restaurant and lounge, and continuing into the early-morning hours Thursday.

Nobody was in the restaurant at the time of the fire, but the six residents from the three apartments on the second and third floors of the building all survived the blaze; only two residents were treated for cases of smoke inhalation. Deputy Fire Chief David Kelly said they got the alarm at midnight and were on the scene of the landmark North Avenue restaurant within minutes. "The fire was showing when we got here," he said. Kelly said the fire, which is currently under investigation, originated in the entrance. He said that members of the Union County Fire Investigation Unit and the investigation unit of the State Division of Fire Safety were also at the scene.

"There is substantial damage," Kelly said. "Ferraro's will be out of business for awhile." Kelly said that Anthology, a Quimby Street women's boutique that shares a wall with Ferraro's, sustained smoke damage. Another adjacent business, the Christine Cosenza State Farm Insurance Agency, at the corner of Elm Street and North Avenue, also suffered smoke damage.

Joe Bolizzi, manager of Ferraro's, said, "It's a shame it happened. There are no words." Our bosses were like, 'What the hell happened? We have to try to regroup.' The restaurant is pretty much destroyed. From what I saw, forget about it." He said he has no idea how or where the fire started. At 1:35 a.m. Thursday, fire departments were battling flames that could be seen shooting through the roof of the restaurant. By 2:30 a.m., the fire appeared to be completely extinguished. But the smell of gas lingered in the air, until three workers from PSEG turned off the gas from below street level.

Laura Debrossy, who works at The Running Company on Quimby Street, was loading new merchandise into the store at about midnight, when she said she smelled smoke and walked around to the front of Ferraro's.

"I couldn't see a foot in front of me, there was so much smoke." Debrussy said, adding that 10 minutes later, windows in the apartments started to shatter.

Debrussy said she saw Gladys Alayon, who lived in one of the apartments escape with her 7-year-old daughter. Alayon's brother, Edward Torres, also lives in the apartment that they've been sharing since August. Alayon was sleeping when she was awakened by the fire alarm. "I heard the alarm ring from the back bedroom, woke up and smelled smoke," she said, adding that they've been living in the apartment since August.