Fire Causes $200,000 Damage to Old Pennsylvania Eatery

A restaurant housed in a historic western Pennsylvania building suffered $200,000 damage in a kitchen fire, but no workers or customers were hurt.

The fire at The Kaufman House in Zelienople started about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and started in a stove hood and spread to the roof.

Fire Chief Rob Reeb says the kitchen’s fire suppression system was working but did not contain the blaze.

The restaurant is on the site of a hotel built in 1837 that burned in a large fire that destroyed much of the business district of this borough of 3,000 people about 25 miles north of Pittsburgh. The hotel was rebuilt in 1902 and was purchased by its current owners in 1973.

The restaurant was open at the time, but customers and employees got out safely.