Writing about the dedication of volunteer firemen in the mid-Monongahela Valley in 1993, the late R. Mitchell Steen said area residents "could never adequately compensate the efforts of volunteer fire groups." Steen, longtime managing editor of The Valley Independent and a noted historian in this region, emphasized that the mid-Mon Valley "has been extremely fortunate in having community volunteers spend countless hours making many personal sacrifices, even offering their lives, to ensure the safety of other community residents." While he chronicled countless fires and other parts of history during his long and distinguished newspaper career, Steen, like others who worked at The Valley Independent, never forgot one incident that hit very close to home. It was 30 years ago that a fast-spreading fire gutted an unused section of the former American Chain and Cable Co. plant (Page's) in the Eastgate section of Monessen. The blaze, which drew 11 area fire companies to the scene on Sept. 9, 1976, raged out of control for 500 feet along the railroad tracks within minutes of the first alarm. In the process, it disrupted activities at the newspaper plant, Mon Valley Community Health Center, Keystone Bakery and other businesses in that area. The plant's fence-producing area, which employed about 50 persons, was, for the most part, saved. Ten workers in the plant at the time of the fire escaped safely. Plant manager Emil Spadafore was unable to offer damage estimates the morning after the fire as firemen continued to pour water onto the smoking ruins of the ACCC facility. But he did say equipment and materials were stored in the portion destroyed by fire, the old Page mill area. Efforts had been under way to sell the structure. Monessen fire chief Michael Nyalko said the cause of the fire was "unknown" and that a thorough investigation would be conducted. Spadafore told reporter Larry Pansino of The Valley Independent that an initial report blamed an explosion at the former Page facility. Nyalko speculated that the fire spread so rapidly because the wooden floors were probably soaked with oil after years of industrial activity and that a flammable plastic may have been stored there. The Valley Independent building, located less than 150 feet from the Page plant, felt the impact of the destructive fire's intense heat. It also became one of the central points of activities by firemen and a convenient spot for spectators and news agencies covering the action. At 5:40 p.m., personnel in the newspaper's circulation department noticed the fire and called Robert W. Conroy, publisher and general manager, at home. Conroy then set the wheels in motion for TVI photographers and reporters to get to the scene. At 5:50 p.m., Lewis Jones, circulation manager at the newspaper, called Conroy from a pay telephone in the building. He said the power was gone in the entire building and that the intense heat from the fire was threatening the newspaper plant. Jones told Conroy the large rear doors to The Valley Independent were "too hot to handle ... untouchable." Behind those doors was a large area housing the newspaper's presses and more than 100 rolls of valuable and costly newsprint. Also on the scene were Steen, mechanical superintendent Jack Kerr, assistant foremen Eli Meyers and Andy Kossar, maintenance supervisor Sherman Koons, business office manager Anna Chuberka and Gerald Jackson, a photo-composition operator. At 6:03 p.m. the Page building collapsed, thus reducing the fire potential at The Valley Independent and the heat factor. Conroy, Jones and Mike Weight, a circulation supervisor, secured the building, reset the internal fire alarm, which had gone off, and as a precautionary measure shut down the power supply. The newspaper plant was not damaged and operations were normal the day after the fire. Elsewhere in the Eastgate area the morning after, Addison Bowers, assistant manager at Shop 'n Save supermarket, reported everything back to normal. Bowers said the store closed at 6 p.m., not long after the first alarm sounded at 5:35, and did not reopen that evening. He said there was some concern over the loss of freezers as a result of the power failure caused by the fire. Plans were made, however, to transfer perishable items to other locations in the area including the Fisher Heights store and Weiss Packing Co. in Rostraver for storage. At Frank's Garage, a number of small window panes and a large window at the rear of the building facing the fire were cracked by the heat of the blaze. A sign on the top of the front of the building and a used-car sign were melted by the heat. Garage officials reported no other damage and said cars parked there were moved and left elsewhere before being moved back after power was restored. At Mon Valley Community Health Center, executive director Joseph DeOto said there was no damage to the building. Meetings scheduled there were canceled including those for the Mon Valley United Health Services Board and United Way of Mon Valley. Nyalko told Pansino water was poured on the Check Furniture warehouse on Donner Avenue near the fire and houses in that area as a precautionary measure. Despite intense heat that set a utility pole on fire across the railroad tracks from the burning Page plant, firemen were able to get to the tracks when they initially responded to the alarm. While a Monessen snorkel truck blasted water down onto the blaze, other firemen poured water over the truck and the firemen operating it. Nyalko said the firemen's hair was singed by the heat and some suffered minor burns and sunburn on their faces and hands. The Monessen chief estimated that more than $1 million worth of firefighting equipment and nearly 150 firemen responded to battle the fire through the night. Some 15 trucks were involved and thousands of feet of hose were laid. In addition to firemen from Monessen stations No. 1 and No. 2, companies from Donora, Lock Four, Carroll Township, Charleroi, Belle Vernon, North Belle Vernon, Rostraver Central, Webster and Monongahela responded. Nyalko expressed deep gratitude to all fire departments that helped. "They did a marvelous job, a tremendous job," he told Pansino. "They really stuck in there." Water was pumped from fire hydrants in Eastgate and the Monongahela River. Matt Canestrale, owner of Sanitary Landfill in Rostraver Township, used a bulldozer to clear a makeshift roadway to the river for the fire trucks. Firemen faced a number of hazards besides the heat. Overhead electrical wires carrying 25,000 volts fell onto railroad cars while the men worked, Nyalko noted, and a section of glass from the plant crashed through the roof of one Monessen truck. Three firemen were injured and two of them were taken to the Charleroi Division of Monongahela Valley Hospital, where they were treated and released. Others had blisters on their feet from the heat. When the two 25,000-volt lines went down, 3,000 customers lost electrical service for more than an hour. West Penn Power Co. division manager John Umstead reported a remaining 25 to 30 customers in the immediate vicinity of the fire were not restored to service until nearly four hours later. West Penn Power operations at the fire scene were directed by Louis Santini. As the fire raged on, explosions were heard periodically from inside the plant. Nyalko told Pansino these were probably caused by some flammable liquid or oxygen tanks he had seen there on previous occasions. The Salvation Army, under the direction of Capt. Ronald Freiert from the Monessen Citadel, provided relief for the firemen and other emergency personnel. They set up a lemonade counter and distributed rolls donated by Keystone Bakery. Mobile canteen units of the Salvation Army in Greensburg and Beaver Falls also took part in the effort and distributed coffee and sandwiches. Thousands of curious spectators watched from both sides of the river and along the entire length of the new Donora-Monessen Bridge. Monessen police and other volunteers did an excellent job with traffic control. They had their hands full for several hours. Monessen Ambulance Service personnel also were on the scene. Nyalko also offered his appreciation to Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad officials for stopping train traffic during the fire and to Monessen City Councilman Anthony Petaccia, who helped arrange refueling for the fire trucks. Petaccia, director of public safety at the time and the father of the city's current mayor, Anthony Petaccia, praised Nyalko, "all of his men and the other volunteer firemen who were here." "It's heartwarming to know that all you have to do is pick up the telephone and get this kind of response from your brother firemen throughout the Valley," Petaccia told Pansino. "Chief Nyalko and the other chiefs displayed fantastic organization and knowledge in directing operations of fighting the fire and everyone cooperated. "In the time of crisis, the true color of a man comes out. Volunteers were all over the place. I mean the citizens. People were running errands and carrying containers of water and going after sandwiches. It's really something to see how a city's people can respond and work together." Petaccia also noted the power outage created problems at the City Building, primarily in the police department, as communications were cut off for a long time. The Holiday restaurant at Parente Boulevard and Schoonmaker Avenue also was without power for several hours. But when power was restored, business picked up at a fast pace.

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