Fire destroys barbershop, damages pub

LEECHBURG -- Adam Seevers shook his head Wednesday morning and stared at the Third Street barbershop he's owned for nine years.

Hours earlier a quick-moving blaze of suspicious origin raced through a vacant building, damaged a pub on one side and destroyed Seever's shop and an upstairs apartment on the other side.

Police and firefighters said no one was hurt in the 2:45 a.m. fire despite glass flying from heat-shattered windows.

A resident of a next-door upstairs apartment left unscathed and as a precaution firefighters evacuated apartments in the block, firefighters said.

"The vacant building was engulfed when we arrived," said Leechburg fire Capt. Gary Lyon.

"I live a couple blocks away and the sky was glowing when I went out my door," said fire truck driver Milo Miller.

About 50 firefighters from four companies -- Leechburg, Gilpin, West Leechburg and Hyde Park -- extinguished the blaze about 7 a.m., but returned about 90 minutes later to put out several hot spots at the rear of the blackened hulk that had been the vacant building.

Fred Ulmer, who lives two doors from the blaze site along Third Street, which is a section of Route 66, said he was obtaining a permit to convert the vacant building into an office and a tool storage area for his general construction business.

"Someone knocked on the door and I got my wife and kids out. I saw the fire going through the roof of my building and starting to jump to the barbershop roof," Ulmer said.

Ulmer said he picked up a building permit application on Tuesday and had about $10,000 worth of tools, including a laser measuring device, in the uninsured building.

"There was no power in the building, so that rules out an electrical fire," he said.

Ulmer's daughter, Danielle, said she was frightened when the vacant building's windows exploded, showering the area with glass.

Danielle said she and a friend were walking across the street from her home when she saw a firefighter frantically waving for them to get away.

Just as the firefighter put his hands over his head, "There was a smash. It's hard to describe. The windows just blew out," Danielle said.

About 10 a.m. state police fire marshal Cpl. Jeff Crede said the fire appeared to have started in the vacant building. Later police discovered that the fire apparently started on an outside wall, said Leechburg Patrolman Mike Diebold.

"It's suspicious," Diebold said.

Ron Holt of Gilpin, owner of Rivertown Pub, said he was appreciative of the firefighters for saving the business he bought in January.

"I have to compliment them. They did everything they could do," he said.

Holt was waiting for an estimate of water damage in the pub's basement, first floor and second-floor apartment.

"This could have been much worse," he said.

Throughout the morning several men approached Seevers. They had planned to have hair cuts.

"I don't know where I'll go, but I'll open somewhere," Seevers said.

"We won't let him down," said a man who declined to give his name.