SHARPSBURG, Pa. — An early morning fire on Sunday gutted the bar of the VFW along Main Street in Sharpsburg.
Monday morning, a sign on the door read, “closed until further notice.” A haze of grey smoke was left clinging in the air. The bar’s countertops are charred and melted right into the sink. The electrical outlets and wires are blackened.
Mike Daniher is the fire chief for Southern Allegheny Valley Emergency Services. He says that, as his crews were heading to the call for a fire alarm, the VFW member who holds the keys asked for the call to be canceled.
“Our lieutenant was right there, didn’t see any vehicles and went and started knocking on the door. Nobody was there,” Daniher said.
The keyholder showed up and let the crews in. He said he was asleep at the time and thought it was a false alarm because of the recent trouble he’s had with the new alarm system.
Daniher says he rounded the bend and saw smoke and flames.
“We just go in to confirm and, in this instance, it made a significant difference about whether or not the building was potentially a total loss,” Daniher said. “There is also an apartment above it. There could have been a victim as well.”
That person just happened to be out of town.
Chief Daniher says this is a chance to show why fire alarms should never be ignored and why firefighters need to respond to every single call.
“Fire alarms go off for a reason,” Daniher said. “You don’t disregard that. They may go off 99 times for something that’s not a fire, but one time it’s super important.”
The Allegheny County Fire Marshal is investigating, but it doesn’t appear as though anything is suspicious.
An insurance adjuster came out on Monday, but it’s still not clear when the VFW will be able to reopen.
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