Westmoreland food bank loses donated food, truck in fire

The Westmoreland County Food Bank lost more than 3,000 pounds of food and a truck Tuesday after it caught fire in North Huntingdon.

The driver was picking up food donations from area grocery stores when he was alerted to the fire, said Jennifer Miller, director of development.

“Fortunately, there were some good citizens around to call it to the driver's attention,” Miller said.

The driver parked in Norwin Hills Shopping Center, and firefighters extinguished the blaze. The driver was not injured.

The truck likely was carrying bread and meat. The vehicle, valued at $150,000, was destroyed.

“Unfortunately, because the (food) reached unsafe temperatures ... that will be a loss,” Miller said.

The food bank has about eight trucks for donation pick-ups and daily deliveries to pantries across the county.

“It won't completely devastate us ... but it will definitely put a crimp into how efficiently we're able to do that,” Miller said.

Correction: June 27, 2018

A previous version of this story incorrectly listed the name of the shopping plaza.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@tribweb.com or via Twitter @byrenatta.