Fire destroys several Franklin Township businesses
Ed Riedmann
This Franklin Township building that housed five businesses and an apartment was destroyed by a fire early Wednesday morning.
Ed Riedmann
Firefighters work to put out a fire in this Franklin Township building early Wednesday morning.
Carol Pultorak received an early morning phone call Wednesday about a fire at the Franklin Township building that housed a clinic operated by her nonprofit.
The founder of Catnip Acres arrived as firefighters tried to get the blaze under control.
“It was just raging,” Pultorak said. “There was fire coming out from everywhere. We could tell there wasn’t going to be anything left,”
The building that had housed the nonprofit’s clinic, four other businesses and an apartment was destroyed by the early-morning blaze.
Waynesburg-Franklin Township Fire Co. Chief Jeff Marshall said crews went to 175 Wade St. at 4:59 a.m.
“The entire roof is gone. It’s a total loss, nothing was saved,” Marshall said.
According to Marshall, a woman and her child who lived in the apartment made it out safely. He said no one was injured in the fire.
Marshall said the American Red Cross is assisting the family displaced from the apartment.
Also responding to the fire were Jefferson Fire Co., Carmichaels-Cumberland Township Fire Co. and Rices Landing Fire Department.
The style of roof on the building made it susceptible to collapse under heavy fire, according to Marshall.
“The fire was fought from the outside. Nobody entered the building after we knew everybody was out,” Marshall said.
Also operating out of the building was All Seasons Mats and Linen, Pine Tree Quilt Shop, Dubtown Vapes and Nail Policz.
Marshall said the fire started in the back of the building where All Seasons Mats is located, but the exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the state police fire marshal.
Tom Smith, owner of the building and co-owner of All Seasons Mats, said he got the call about the fire at 5 a.m.
Smith’s business had been there for 10 years. He called the fire, “devastating.”
Catnip Acres also operates a rescue facility at 155 Dark Hollow Road, Waynesburg. There were no animals at the Franklin clinic at the time of the fire.
Pultorak started Catnip Acres 33 years ago. In that time, she said the nonprofit has spayed or neutered 35,000 cats. In recent years, they have also begun offering the same service for dogs.
Catnip Acres aims to help seniors and low-income individuals with their clinic.
“So many people depended on Catnip Acres,” Pultorak said.
Pultorak, who planned to retire this year, feels the work her facility does in the community is vital. She and her colleagues are focusing on finding a new place to operate. She said the equipment at the clinic was the top of the line and was covered by insurance.
“We plan on coming back. We’re in the process of ordering computers and phones. We’re looking around for property. Even something short term would be OK,” Pultorak said. “We have a meeting Saturday. We’re going to sit down and do some planning.”
She added the community has already pitched in to help and some have reached out with ideas for a new location.
A GoFundMe for Catnip Acres had raised more than $5,500 as of Wednesday evening. A link to the page is available on Catnip Acres’ Facebook page.
Like Smith and Pultorak, Linda Jones also got the phone call at about 5 a.m. She decided it best to wait until daylight to see the damage.
Around 9:30 a.m. she saw that Pine Tree Quilt Shop, the business she ran for 11 years, had been destroyed.
For Jones, it was a difficult sight to see.
“Our main goal was to teach people how to quilt,” Jones said. “We had several beautiful quilts that were made. We had bolt after bolt of beautiful fabric.”
Before she started the business, Jones taught English for 32 years at West Greene High School. She said opening the quilt shop had been a dream of hers.
“The quilt shop was named after a quilt my grandmother had made, which was the pine tree pattern. The quilt is safe with me. It wasn’t at the shop,” Jones said.
Customers who came to the store became friends, and Jones said many of them offered comfort in the aftermath of the fire.
“Even a couple of the local quilt shops have reached out to see if they can help out. That has been quite consoling, the number of people who have reached out to me today,” Jones said.
Jones was grateful that no one had been hurt by the fire.
“In the long run, no lives were lost and no one was injured. That’s what we need to focus on now,” Jones said.