Nineteen people were left homeless, a restaurant was destroyed and a firefighter was rescued from a third-story window after fire ripped through a 127-year-old building on the city's south side Sunday morning.

The three-story brick building at 339 Center Ave. was home to Hutch's Diner on the first floor and eight apartments on top two floors.

The fire started around 9 a.m., but officials have not yet determined the cause or where it started. A state police fire marshal was to begin an investigation today.

City Fire Capt. Kevin McAfee said the building is a total loss and would have to be torn down. He said there was three feet of water in the basement.

All of the residents and restaurant employees got out of the burning building safely. But Kevin Smith, assistant chief of the South Butler Volunteer Fire Department, was briefly separated from his group and had to be rescued while hanging out a third-floor window.

Dozens of firefighters from five departments battled the blaze for hours.

Bryan Hutchens, owner of Hutch's Diner for the past two years, said he and his employees were getting ready for their breakfast crowd when they started smelling something burning.

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“We smelled like a wood burning smell and thought it could be leaves or something. We were checking the burners,” he said.

After going to the second floor and discovering smoke he called 911 and made sure that all the tenants quickly got out.

According to the building's co-owners, Clair Boring and Joe McKain, seven of eight apartments were occupied.

Mary Vensel, who lived in one of the apartments on the second floor, said she and her family fled in a hurry.

“I woke up and smelled smoke and I started screaming. It was coming through all the walls,” she said.

Vensel said she was unable to find her pet cat, who was still missing as of Sunday afternoon.

Noting that the fire occurred just over a year after fire destroyed the historic Worsley's Building on Main Street, Mayor Tom Donaldson said that another piece of the city's history was being destroyed.

“The real tragedy, besides the people being displaced of course, is it's another historic building that is being lost,” Donaldson said.

The commercial building, according to Butler County Assessment records, was constructed in 1890. It served numerous purposes over the years. In recent years, it was home to apartments and a number of restaurants.

Boring, who has owned the building since 2003, said he offered to put up the tenants at Almost Home motel on New Castle Road in Butler Township, which he also owns.

Additionally, the American Red Cross is providing assistance to the 19 people left homeless, said marketing director Dan Tobin.

Tobin was not immediately sure of the genders and ages of the people being assisted but believed most of them lived in the apartment building.

Among those ousted from their homes is neighbor Michael Vargo. “There's four inches of water in my basement,” said Vargo, who lives with his father, nephew Zane Vargo and his nephew's fiancée Lynsey Zaker.

“I looked out my window and I saw the flames shooting out,” Zaker said about the events of that morning.

Since her window was only a few feet from the burning building she grabbed a quick photograph, got her dog and a few belongings and left.

Michael Vargo said as soon as he left his house, he walked around back and already, “there was smoke coming through the bricks.” The family has not yet been able to go into the house it has called home since 1989 to personally assess the damage.

“All I'm worried about is my son's baby pictures,” Vargo said noting that his son Brandon is now 21. “Those are irreplaceable.” Vargo watched the firefighters' efforts from the parking lot across the street.

There, more than 100 people mingled, chatted took photos and videos. City officials, including the mayor and two city council members also were on hand to watch the process.

Center Avenue was closed from the Wayne Street bridge to South Monroe Street as firefighters battled the blaze.

Hutchens said damage to the restaurant will be covered by insurance and he hopes to rebuild in a new location. Boring, also insured, said he already is making arrangements to demolish the building.

“There's no saving it,” Boring said. “It's too far gone.”

McAfee estimated the damage at around $250,000. “But that's just a guess,” he said.

He also acknowledged that due to the extent of the damage, a cause of the fire may never be known. A fire marshal was to inspect the damage today.

“But,” McAfee said, “it could go down as undetermined.”