Cause of blaze not yet known
The search for the cause of a fire Saturday that ignited in Butler's downtown business district continues.
But investigators believe the blaze shortly after 8 a.m. started in the rear half of the first floor at Sir Speedy printing shop at 229 S. Main St.
The fire was contained to the more than three-story, century-old building, but neighboring businesses — Reclamation Brewing at 221 S. Main St. and Edward Jones Investments at 231 S. Main St. — suffered water and/or smoke damage.
A fourth business, Miller's Shoes at 215 S. Main St., sustained only minor water damage.
In all, the preliminary damage in the fire was estimated at $750,000. But fire officials acknowledged that could grow. All of the buildings and businesses were insured.“Because of the collapse in the area and the inability to move some of the collapsed debris to further examine it, there's just no apparent cause at this time,” Trooper DuWayne Baird, a state police deputy fire marshal investigating the blaze, said Sunday.He said the second floor of the three-story Sir Speedy building collapsed onto the first floor during the fire. The roof also fell onto the third floor, which remained intact.“We're still investigating it,” Baird said. “We're waiting for the interested parties, namely the insurance companies, to get involved. There are going to be more coming down the pike, I'm not sure. Whether or not I'm involved in that or not I don't know. But we'll see.”Neither Baird nor Chris Switala, chief of the Butler Fire Department, has spoken to representatives of any insurance companies.There was nothing to suggest the fire was suspicious, authorities said.It was not known if any or all of the three buildings would have to be torn down, Switala said. But he said the Sir Speedy building sustained “significant” structural damage and he considered it “a total loss”That building and the two-story Edward Jones building to its right share a common hallway and stairwell on the second floor.“Because of that tie in,” Switala said, “there's a possibility that if one (of the buildings) comes down, both of them will have to come down.”The Sir Speedy building and the three-story Reclamation Brewing building to its left are separate.Ben Smith, who co-owns the brew pub with his father, John, estimated damages to his business in the “hundreds of thousands.” But he said Sunday that he had not spoken to his insurance agent.The primary damage was to the kitchen equipment, tables and chairs, drywall and wall. The brewing equipment was also damaged, but he admitted that some of that could be salvaged.
Smith, who also is Butler's mayor, and his father rent the first floor and basement of the building, which is owned by Reed Enterprise. A representative of the owner could not be reached for comment Sunday.Sir Speedy owner William Longstreth also could not be reached. Country Court Properties LLC of West Sunbury owns both the Sir Speedy and Edward Jones buildings. James Taylor, the majority owner for the company, was unavailable for comment.Jeff Geibel, a financial adviser for Edward Jones in Butler, could not be reached.Switala said it will be up to city building code official John Evans and his office to determine if any of the buildings would have to be torn down.“He drove by and surveyed the (Sir Speedy) building (Saturday),” Switala said of Evans.Baird was at the scene of the fire for about four and a half hours Saturday. In the area where the fire started, he described seeing florescent ceiling lights, machines that were used by Sir Speedy, and a lot of combustible materials such as paper products.Fire officials did not immediately know if Sir Speedy was open Friday or when it last closed.Tracking the path of the fire, Baird admitted, was complicated.“The fire sequence is really tricky,” he said. “It was actually frustrating me, because the fire was seen coming out of the rear of the first floor of the Sir Speedy initially, but then eventually during the fire departments' suppression efforts the top floor of the roof collapsed onto the third floor.”He said it was somewhat a “mystery” how the roof caught fire and collapsed.“There were some void spaces there that could have seen some heat transfer up through there,” Baird said. “I've never seen (burn) patterns like that before. It was so interesting.”Switala said the fire spread to the third floor and into the cockloft area of the roof.“We had ventilated a hole in the roof,” he said, “and there was immediately fire coming out if it.”Baird said the investigation still has a long way to go.“This is just scratching the surface on maybe coming to a cause on this fire,” he said. “But I think there's going to be a lot of steps down the road with it.”He asked that any witnesses or anybody who may have seen anything at the time of the blaze to call him at 724-284-8100 or the Butler Fire Department at 724-283-3100.
