Past renovations at Kiski Valley Inn restaurant made extinguishing flames difficult for firefighters who spent several hours at the scene of the Loyalhanna Township blaze early Sunday, according to fire officials.
“The age of the structure and all the remodeling they did, they just covered over everything from years ago, and it was just moving way too fast for us,” said Saltsburg Assistant Fire Chief Joe Ott.
Firefighters were on scene for more than five hours after the 3:27 a.m. blaze in rural northeastern Westmoreland County, just across the Kiski River from Saltsburg.
Ott called the building a “total loss,” which he said could make determining a cause difficult.
A state police fire marshal was expected to investigate the cause Sunday afternoon.
When he left his home about 100 yards away for the fire call, Ott said he could see flames coming out of the roof from the Harvat Road restaurant and lounge. “It wasn't really safe enough to put anybody inside because by the time we got everything situated, the roof started coming in, the first floor started collapsing in the basement,” Ott said.
Firefighters used a ladder truck to extinguish the flames that became trapped underneath the debris. No one was injured.
The building, off a residential road, at one time housed Harvat's, a restaurant and dance club, but new owners converted it in 1993 into a restaurant and lounge serving Italian-American cuisine. In 2012, the restaurant had seating for 85 guests with an additional 25 spots in the lounge area.
The restaurant changed hands in the last year or two, Ott said. The owner reported leaving the building at about 11:15 p.m. Saturday after closing for the evening.
The property was purchased in 2015 by Tammy and Stephen McMunn, according to Westmoreland County records.
Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.
