Building set to be torn down
Butler officials plan to immediately tear down a more than century-old building ravaged by flames Sunday morning, authorities said.
A contractor, said Capt. Kevin McAfee of the Butler Fire Department, was to begin razing the three-story brick structure on Center Avenue as early as this afternoon.
Clair Boring and Joe McKain co-own the building that housed Hutch’s Diner and eight apartments.
The demolition would follow an inspection by the state police fire marshal, who was supposed to begin an investigation today. The cause of the fire is unknown.
John Evans, city building and code enforcement officer, did not return a telephone call this morning.
The road around the building also will be closed to traffic. The length of the closure, which would affect students attending the Center Avenue Community School, was not immediately known.
“We notified the school district regarding the closing,” McAfee said Sunday night, “so they can reroute buses if they have to.”
Nineteen people lived in the building’s apartments when the fire struck about 9 a.m. All tenants at home were able to get out safely.
The Butler chapter of the American Red Cross is helping those in need of temporary housing.
The fire also displaced a family living in a house near the building. There was little if any damage to the house, McAfee said, but the family was advised it would have to find somewhere else to live during the building’s demolition.
A barber shop between that house and the building would also have to remain closed.
McAfee said that before the demolition work, Bryan Hutchens, owner of the diner, and some tenants today would be allowed to retrieve property from portions of the building deemed safe.
Hutchens was just 12 days away from celebrating his second anniversary in business there. Some of the kitchen equipment, fire officials said, was believed to be salvageable.
Tenants who lived in apartments in the front part of the building would also have the opportunity to see if they have any property worth saving.
