Greasy towels, dryer doomed North Versailles eatery

Greasy towels lying on top of a dryer caused the fire that destroyed a North Versailles Township landmark restaurant last month.

The Allegheny County Fire Marshal's Office determined the Feb. 6 blaze at the Winchester Room was caused by the towels igniting atop the dryer in the basement.

"It is freshly laundered cotton bar towels used to clean up a kitchen with grease," Allegheny County Deputy Fire Marshal Don Brucker said. "What happens is that you don't get all the grease out of the towels. Whenever you heat them through the laundering operation, you have a spontaneous ignition take place with the towels. We isolated it specifically down to the top of that dryer."

There were tablecloths in the dryer at the time while the towels were on top of the dryer.

The majority of the Winchester Room building at 1728 Lincoln Highway had to be demolished so the cause and origin investigation could be completed.

An automatic smoke alarm in the basement alerted the restaurant's security company of the blaze Feb. 6 at 1:06 p.m.

Fire crews from North Versailles Township and surrounding areas battled the remainder of the afternoon and into the early part of the evening and had it under control at approximately 7 p.m.

The Winchester Room owner Kurt Salmon said his insurance company investigation of the fire cause is ongoing.

He said he plans to rebuild.