Fire at Unity shopping plaza damages multiple businesses

Jackie Tustin was treated like family when she worked once a week at Roadman’s Country Living Shoppe in Unity.

“This isn’t my full-time job. It’s my fun job,” she said.

But she and a few other employees are out of work, at least for now, after a fire Tuesday severely damaged the store and several others at the Latrobe 30 Shoppes along Route 30. She stood stunned behind caution tape Tuesday morning and looked at the charred storefront with home decor items still visible inside.

BREAKING: The Latrobe 30 Plaza is on fire. Dispatchers confirm the fire started around 3:15 a.m. and no one has been taken to the hospital.

Take a look at this video we got permission to use. Absolutely crazy to see. pic.twitter.com/GUgeAhMqKG

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“It could’ve been a lot worse, but it doesn’t look like we’re going to get back in there anytime soon,” she said.

Security will be patrolling the scene until insurance adjusters and a state police fire marshal finish their work and the strip of storefronts can be boarded up.

The fire was reported about 3:15 a.m. by a passerby and spread along a 250-foot section of wooden canopy that covers the sidewalks in front of the stores, Lloydsville fire Chief Brian Schultheis said.

About 75 to 100 feet of the canopy was engulfed in flames when firefighters got there, he said.

My Fitness Kitchen and Roadman’s Country Living Shoppe had the heaviest damage. In addition, five businesses and four empty storefronts had varying degrees of damage.

Firefighters extinguished the flames before they reached the Harbor Freight store, where the floor was caked in black soot. On the opposite side of the strip, SCG Hobby had smoke damage.

It took about 90 minutes to get the fire under control. Water supply wasn’t an issue, Schultheis said, as water was pulled from hydrants and tanker trucks. No one was hurt.

The fire started at or near Roadman’s Country Living Shoppe, said Trooper Chet Bell, the state police fire marshal. The cause is under investigation.

Many of the businesses in that strip are locally owned, said Ralph Scalise, owner of Scalise Real Estate Co. and property manager. The fire and related closure could be devastating to them, he said.

“Small-business owners, they make a living and a little more,” he said. “They work hard for it, and, to see this, it could be a setback to them.”

Sprinkler systems at My Fitness Kitchen and Roadman’s Country Living Shoppe helped to minimize damage inside the buildings, Scalise said. Surveillance video is being reviewed.

Visitors to the plaza drove by the damage and snapped photos on their cellphones, while store owners stood in the parking lot, brought together by their shared misfortune.

“It is like a family when you’ve got people next to you, all small businesses,” said Stephanie Drahnak, owner of SCG Hobby.

Mary Louise Biz, the owner of Plaza News Stand, said she received a phone call about the fire around 4 a.m.

“I did not know if it was my store or not. Thank God (it wasn’t),” Biz said, praising the quick work of firefighters.

Businesses run by Biz, Drahnak and Jerry Leonard, owner of Jerald Jewelers for about three decades, all had smoke damage.

SCG Hobby has been in the plaza for about five years and carries comic books, board games and other items. Drahnak is hopeful it could reopen in the next couple of days.

“It’s our livelihood, and we always think about our employees,” she said. “We’re just grateful that no one got hurt.”

Lloydsville firefighters were assisted by their counterparts at numerous companies across the area.

The three-section strip mall, laid out in a horseshoe shape, includes a Dollar General, Dunham’s Sports and Tractor Supply Co., as well as several restaurants and a movie theater that are separate from the bank of storefronts where the fire occurred.

Staff writer Julia Felton contributed to this report.