Cause of massive Penn Hills fire still unknown

Officials still don’t know what caused the fire that destroyed a shopping plaza along one of Penn Hills’ busiest roads earlier this week.

“We haven’t developed any new details,” said Chuck Miller, Penn Hills Fire Marshal, who is leading the investigation into the fire. He did say, however, he does not suspect arson.

The strip, named the Churchill Center Plaza, was totally destroyed by a fire that ignited inside Big Shot Bob’s House of Wings on Sunday night . Fire crews from Penn Hills and surrounding communities fought the flames until Monday morning. A natural gas leak triggered an explosion that injured several firefighters, who have all since been treated at local hospitals and released.

Pittsburgh-based Union Real Estate Company manages the Churchill Center Plaza.

Michele DeMarco, the company’s vice president of accounting and finance, declined to comment on questions related to the fire. She did, however, thank all involved in fighting the fire.

“To the tenants and the community, on behalf of the company, we want to thank the first responders and emergency crew that showed up to battle this fire. Obviously, it was extensive and we appreciate all their efforts … we are so grateful,” DeMarco said.

The plaza’s owners, Churchill Center LLC, could not be reached for comment.

The initial spark that led to the more-than-12-hour fire fight is under investigation. What doesn’t need a microscope is the damage that it caused to the four businesses located there.

Miller said the building was a total loss, with about $1.5 million in damage.

“Everything, as far as I know, is gone,” said Michelle Levine, who owns and operates Cefola’s Cleaners located at the plaza. She said the business started in her family 79 years ago in Homewood before relocating to Penn Hills.

Levine, who went into business with her father around 13 years ago, said the business has never experienced this type of blow. She was on her way to Penn Hills to speak with the fire marshal the day after the fire to see if the company’s computer was salvageable.

“I’m hoping it’s still there. I doubt it, but I’m hoping for a miracle. It has all our customers’ information. We need to touch base with them,” she said.

Levine hopes to relocate within Penn Hills, she said, because of the number of customers in the area.

The fire burned for so long because three gas service lines were feeding it, said Barry Kukovich, a Peoples Gas spokesman. He said shutting those lines off became complicated by a mislabeled valve box cover that was blocked by fire equipment.

Peoples managed to shut off all the gas at 12:20 a.m. Monday, after the fire had been burning for nearly five hours. The fire continued to burn until around 8 a.m.

The gas lines’ involvement in the fire continues to be investigated, but more than one resident has smelled natural gas in the area.

Sue Benzinger, a Penn Hills resident and former crossing guard for the Penn Hills Police Department, said she remembers a strong odor of natural gas near a bus stop in front of Churchill Center Plaza along Frankstown Road.

She said she reported the smell to Peoples shortly after she started the job in 2012 and continued to smell the odor until she left the job in 2015.

Levine also has smelled natural gas in the shopping plaza. She said she called Peoples about a year ago about it and a technician that came to the scene did not find a leak and told her the smell could have come from the fumes of a natural gas vehicle.

Kukovich said there have been no leaks in that area on Peoples facilities since 2000.

“We service the lines in that area annually as part of our standard procedures,” he said.

He said the gas company responded to a call about a gas odor in October 2015 on Pennoak Drive, which is located just south of the Churchill Center Plaza.

“We sent a technician and he found no gas,” Kukovich said. “We absolutely respond to every single call. But the vast majority is not actually gas; but we must respond and we do.”