Investigators Believe Vandergrift Restaurant Fire May Be Suspicious
VANDERGRIFT (KDKA) -- In Vandergrift, the remains of the Carpenter's Café on Longfellow Street have finally stopped smoldering.
Vandergrift Fire Company 2 Chief Steve Potoka was on scene Monday, trying to wrap up loose ends with the building's owner and others.
"It was tough, very, very tough. Large amount of fire. It just come at us all in one time," he said. "We got a lot of structure collapses and stuff its hard to sift through all that stuff."
The State Police Fire Marshal has so far ruled the cause of the fire "undetermined." That doesn't mean the fire that consumed the restaurant and damaged neighboring building wasn't suspicious or even arson.
"The way Vandergrift is, the way the buildings are put together, it could have took out the whole block," Rod Kacin said.
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Kacin lives across the ally from the fire scene, but was on vacation when the texts started pouring in.
"'You might not have a place to come home to,' I was like, oh boy," he said.
Sources close to the investigation say law enforcement is trying to track down a group of juveniles.
The teens were allegedly on the back porch of the restaurant before it burst into flames. They were told to leave by neighbors police want to ask them questions.
Rod Kacin says if all this wasn't an accident someone must face justice.