Blaze destroys 112-year-old Jefferson Hills restaurant

A black and gold banner advertising $2 draft beers during Steelers and Penguins games hung largely untouched Wednesday over the glass nameplate of the Old Large Hotel in Jefferson Hills.

But the flames, smoke and water from a three-alarm fire destroyed the interior of the 112-year-old establishment located near the intersection of Old Clairton and Oak roads.

One firefighter was injured during a partial roof collapse in a portion of the building. She was taken to a local hospital, said Allegheny County emergency management coordinator Alvin Henderson Jr., but her injuries did not appear to be serious.

Another firefighter was treated on the scene for a finger injury.

Fire started in the restaurant and bar on the first floor just before 4 a.m. and spread quickly after fire crews arrived, said Jefferson Hills fire Chief Andrew Tomer. He said the fire raced up the walls and into the attic of the three-story building.

“It kept getting worse,” he said. “It was a stubborn fire.”

Henderson said the fire does not appear to be suspicious.

“Good food and good people,” neighbor and longtime patron Kenneth Frazier, 63, said of the business. “It will be sorely missed.”

The original Old Large Hotel, named for the former town of Large, was built in 1903 as a stage coach stop along old Pa. Rt. 51.

Joyce Schmidt, president of the West Jefferson Hills Historical Society, said the business housed antiques and original phones from centuries past, including an original bottle of Monongahela Rye Whiskey made locally in the late 1700s.

She said she is saddened by the loss of the history.

The fire caused a two-hour delay for West Jefferson Hills School District, whose school complex sits about a mile from the fire scene.

Staff writer Dona Dreeland contributed. Megan Guza is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at 412-380-8519 or mguza@tribweb.com.