By Gal Tziperman Lotan

Sitti Krajangsart got a 2:30 a.m. phone call last Tuesday saying his workplace, Rod-Dee Thai Cuisine II in the Fenway, was burning.

Krajangsart, a chef, said he drove from his Medford home to Peterborough Street and watched the fire consume Rod-Dee and six other businesses until 6 a.m.

‘I feel so badly, really, because I worked at the place for more than five years,’ he said. ‘You get connected. Working there every day, mostly, for the past five years. I miss it very much.’

Krajangsart said he is now working at another Rod-Dee location in Brookline and thinking about going back to school. Many of the other 70 employees of the burned businesses, however, remain unemployed, according to Boston’s Office of Jobs and Community Services.

The four-alarm Peterborough Street fire, which caused an estimated $5 million in damages, started around 2 a.m. Jan. 6 at Thornton’s Fenway Grill and blazed through El Pelon Taqueria, Greek Isles Restaurant, Rod-Dee Thai Cuisine II, Umi Japanese Restaurant, Sorento’s Italian Gourmet and Bon Cleaners, a dry-cleaning business, according to fire department reports.

More than 100 firefighters were on the scene, and the cause is still under investigation, according to fire department reports.

City officials held meetings yesterday for owners and employees of the businesses to help them with insurance and short-term employment.

Jeff Zamiri, owner of Sorento’s Italian Gourmet, said the coming months will bring ‘a lot of heartaches.’

Sorento’s has been on Peterborough Street since 1987, he said.

‘We don’t know what’s ahead, or how long we have to wait until the building goes up and we can start rebuilding the business,’ he said.

Because it will take a while for the businesses to open again, the city is offering employees job placement and other services, said Evelyn Friedman, chief of housing and director of the Department of Neighborhood Development.

‘It will take a significant amount of time to get the building up and running,’ she said. ‘The building was built a long time ago, and now has to comply with codes and become handicap accessible.’

On Friday, Monty Gold, the owner of the buildings, will receive a report saying if the buildings can open after renovation or have to be demolished and rebuilt, Friedman said.

‘We want to help him expedite that process. We want to also help the small businesses get what they can from their insurance company,’ she said.

The department will also look for vacant spaces in the neighborhood where the businesses can reopen, Friedman said.

Employees will receive assistance with unemployment payments, medical insurance, temporary jobs and retraining opportunities, she said.

‘It’s really important to [Mayor Thomas Menino] that businesses stay in the neighborhood,’ Friedman said. ‘For humanitarian reasons and for the vibrancy of the city, the mayor wants to be sure people can access city services.’

There are three job centers in the city, each of which works with more than 5,000 people a year, that can help the 71 employees find a new job or improve their skills, said David Bassett, program manager in Boston’s Office of Jobs and Community Services.

‘If they can show that their present set of skills is not marketable in this economy, which frankly is kind of easy to do these days, then they have an opportunity to pick from a variety of training programs,’ he said.

The programs include classes in nursing, computer skills and truck driving, he said.

Employees who seek the city’s help will hopefully be placed in a new job within 90 days, he said. The employees are also eligible for unemployment benefits including a weekly stipend and healthcare, he said.

‘Our hope is that we can find people jobs next week, but I think realistically within 90 days,’ Bassett said.

Private institutions are also attempting to help.

Carl Nagy Koechlin, executive director of the Fenway Community Development Center, said his organization aims to place people in jobs within their neighborhoods.

The ‘walk to work’ fills job openings in Northeastern and Brigham and Woman’s hospital, among other local businesses, with people from the Fenway, he said.

‘In addition, we’re also focused on how to reestablished these businesses that are so vital to the quality of life in the neighborhood,’ he said. ‘They really represent the vitality and the quirkiness that we love about the neighborhood.’

Joe Prestier, a server at Thornton’s and senior at Berklee College of Music, said he was looking for another job and hoped his savings can last until he finds one.

A friend called him at 3:30 a.m. the day of the fire while Prestier was visiting friends in Florida, he said.

‘I was shocked by the whole scenario,’ he said. ‘[Thornton’s] was more than just a means of income, it was very much a community and family. It doesn’t exist right now.’

Thornton’s bartender and server Brett Hughes, also a senior at Berklee, said he has applied at a few other bars and restaurants, including the bar he was in the night of the fire.

‘I was across the street at the bar Church, having a drink with another girl from work,’ he said. ‘About 20 minutes in, someone who knew I worked [at Thornton’s] grabbed me and said, ‘there’s a fire.”

When he ran outside, the building was on fire and the windows were broken, he said.

‘What amazed me is how long it burned for,’ he said. ‘It burned well until 10 a.m. the next day.’

Dee White, a long-time Fenway resident who said he went to the restaurants two or three times a week, said he found the loss of the businesses discouraging.

‘Thornton’s was like my Cheers,’ he said. ‘Everybody knew my name.’

White said he read about the fire in the news the following morning and went to the site to see what had happened.

‘The fact that they’re all independent businessmen who are part of the neighborhood is part of the loss,’ he said.

On campus, middler finance major Nora Drago said she had been to Thornton’s three or four times and will miss it.

‘Thornton’s had a really good Bailey’s and coffee drink that, with eggs, really made my morning,’ she said.

Some of her friends will also miss the block of restaurants, she said.

‘I have a couple friends who live on the Fenway, and they were really sad about losing El Pelon.’

This Saturday, Copperfield’s Bar, 96 Brookline Ave., will hold a 21+ fundraiser for those who lost their jobs in the fire, according to Menupages.com.