This is the condition of the bar room after an early morning fire on Tuesday, August 20, 2019.
A fire early this morning destroyed the bar room area of Ford City VFW Post 4843 in Pattonville.
The fire began minutes before 4AM and was mainly contained to the bar room, melting electronics such as a large screen television on the wall and singed plaques and other artifacts in the room.
“Nobody was hurt. The cat even got out alive,” reported Post 4843 Quarter-Master Don King. “The back hall is good. The upstairs is good. It was just confined to the bar room area.”
The outside of the Ford City VFW Post 4843 home was untouched by the fire that destroyed the bar area inside.
The cat belongs to a tenant that lived in an upstairs apartment. Except for some smoke damage, the apartment occupied by Jason Capone and his cat Lewis was spared.
“We’ll be shut down for a couple of months,” King said, who said he was alerted to the fire by their alarm company. “
“We have 2Krew. They called me at home and said they had dispatched the fire company. When I got here, the fire company was just backing up the ramp. They didn’t have to break in any doors because I had the keys. I unlocked the doors for them so they could go in. Then I sat back and waited for them to determine what was going on.”
Manor Twp, Ford Cliff, and Ford City fire departments responded to the automatic fire alarm that sounded at 3:45 AM. Ten minutes later, Ford Cliff firefighters arrived and noticed smoke coming from front door. That constituted a working structure fire. Kittanning #4 for air truck and the Kittanning #6 Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) were then called to the scene. Fire crews were on scene for about two hours.
King was texting the other Trustees as he surmised where the fire started.
“It may have been a cooler, but we won’t know until the State Police Fire Marshal and the ATF come later today,” he said.
Power was terminated to the building completely.
According to some members, this building suffered a similar fire in the mid-80s.
As the sun rose amid clouds this morning, fire departments left and several Post members stood outside counting their blessings. Among them, huddled in the carrier, was Lewis the cat.