World Importing Market temporarily closes after fire
Mark Hofmann | Herald-Standard
Plywood covers a portion of World Importing Market on South Beeson Avenue, Uniontown after a fire broke out inside the deli and specialty food market on Sunday afternoon.
Mark Hofmann | Herald-Standard
A fire broke out at World Importing Market on South Beeson Avenue in Uniontown on Sunday afternoon.
A fire at a Uniontown specialty food store and deli has temporarily shuttered the business while the damage is repaired.
Around 1 p.m. Sunday, fire crews responded to World Importing Market on South Beeson Avenue.
“Our on-duty crews were first to arrive, and they found two of the store’s employees outside, reporting there was smoke in the upstairs of the building,” Uniontown City Fire Chief Scott Conn said Monday.
Conn said the crews saw smoke coming from around the building’s second-floor windows and determined a fire was running in the floor space between the first and second floor. He said the fire was also showing signs of extending into the walls of the second floor, so fire crews opened the concealed spaces to put out the fire, and used a second hose to cut off the extending fire in the wall.
“We had South Union Township Fire Company responding as well, and we assigned their ladder truck to the rear of the building,” Conn said. “We discovered a roof hatch adjacent to the fire area and were able to open it to vent heat and smoke.”
They also used fans to ventilate the building. And while crews were able to keep the fire contained, Conn said there was a fair amount of debris between the lathe and plaster, blown-in insulation, and the grid ceiling placed over the original ceiling will need cleaned and replaced.
In a Facebook post, World Importing Market owner William Piccolomini said because of Sunday’s fire, the business will be closed to repair the damage, but will reopen.
Piccolomini thanked the first responders for the help and sacrifice they made by not just fighting the fire, but helping them move their products following the fire.
After getting the fire under control, Conn said the first responders remained on the scene to assist the business in salvaging products that were in sealed coolers and not exposed to the fire or smoke.
“We strive to not only put out the fires but assist property owners in salvaging anything we possibly can,” Conn said “We always try to go above and beyond to help.”
Other community businesses did too.
“We had other businesses around town offering assistance in these folks’ time of need, and I think that speaks volumes,” Conn said. “I think our locally-owned businesses in this town are an absolute gem.”
Piccolomini thanked Neubauer’s Flowers & Market House for letting them use the shop’s refrigerated truck to hold all of World Importing Marker’s freezer items.
“Fires are a destructive thing but also can be a refiner,” Piccolomini posted.
“I look forward to seeing these folks at World Importing back on their feet and open again,” Conn said.
No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, and the state police fire marshal is investigating to determine the cause of the blaze.