PENN TWP — State police fire marshals have been called in to investigate a massive weekend fire that severely damaged a historic, commercial building Friday night, and then rekindled Saturday morning and caused heavy damages to an attached building with shops and garages.

Seven fire departments responded when the blaze was initially reported shortly before 9 p.m. Friday at a large, brick building located at 103 Hicks Road, formerly home to a Franklin Glass plant. Four departments returned to the site again at 8:30 a.m. Saturday when the fire reignited and spread to additional structures on site, according to Chief Bill Glace, of the Penn Township Volunteer Fire Department.

“We arrived about 9 o'clock last night. It was fully involved. It was a total loss,” Glace said. “We had a rekindle today.”

Glace said a tenant who rented one of the garages was working there Friday. The fire started after the man left to get something to eat. He lost his service dog in the fire.

The roof of the old glass plant building was destroyed Friday night leaving the entire building unsafe and in danger of collapsing, Glace said Saturday morning.

“There's nothing holding the thing together,” Glace said.

State police fire marshals were called in to determine the cause of the fire, he said.

The fire rekindled again about 2:15 p.m. Saturday, but it was quickly extinguished.

Some of the tenants who rented garages in the attached building said they came to their shops Friday night to make sure their vehicles and other property were safe and didn't leave until early Saturday morning.

They returned after the fire rekindled to find flames spread to the garages and destroyed their property.

Volunteer fire departments from Penn, Connoquenessing, Middlesex and Butler townships; Evans City, Herman and Saxonburg responded to the fire. Penn Township police also responded.

“I stayed until 3 a.m. Everything was out,” said Tyler Sammons, who operated his business, Poor College Kid Landscaping, out of one of the garages.

He said he pulled most of his equipment out of the garage Friday night to keep it safe in case the fire spread, but put everything back inside after the fire was out.

On Saturday, he got there in time to remove most of it again, but some tools, office equipment and an all-terrain vehicle burned in the fire, he said.

Robert Goupil and Joe Sharon rent one of the garages for their hobby auto shop.

A 1971 Chevrolet Vega that Goupil modified for drag racing, at least six engines, assorted auto parts and many household items were destroyed, he said.

In addition to wrenching on cars, he said he is in the process of moving and had also been storing household items in the garage.

“Lots of kids' stuff, my wife's stuff, Christmas stuff ... There's thousands of dollars in engines and car parts,” Goupil said.

Sharon said he and Goupil sometimes came to the garage just to tinker with their cars and enjoy the relaxing sound of a small waterfall in the Connoquenessing Creek that flows close by.

“We both have other race cars, but the engines were in there,” Sharon said.

Sumner McDanel, who purchased the building about 10 years ago and renovated it, said parts of the old glass plant are not safe and will have to be demolished.

“Parts will have to come down. How much I don't know yet, It's unsafe,” McDanel said. “It's a loss for Penn Township. It's a historic structure.”

He said a lot of work went into installing a new roof, updating wiring and replacing windows after he bought the building. He said Saturday he is coping with the loss.

“As nice as it is, it's just a building. Ten years from now it will be a speed bump,” McDanel said.

His girlfriend Suzanne Houk said the couple will rely on their strong faith to help them work through the difficult situation.

“We follow Jesus and he will take care of us. The lord will redeem us,” she said.

The 40,000-square-foot building was about 125 years old and had been renovated into commercial rental space by McDanel after sitting vacant for almost 15 years before being redeveloped. The large red brick building was also formerly a power plant for the Harmony Short Line, which ran between Zelienople and Butler. There is also a 104-foot iron bridge on the property.

Exactly 10 years before Friday's fire, the Butler Eagle published an article about McDanel and other people who purchased and renovated historic buildings and homes in Butler County — including a section featuring the former Franklin Glass site. According to the article, McDanel operated a mail-order business from one of the plant's buildings, and rented space to other tenants.