Fire Levels Landmark Tionesta, Pennsylvania Block

TIONESTA - Fire destroyed a more than century-old block Sunday in downtown Tionesta, taking with it two businesses and a lifetime of memories for many the small town's residents.

Gone are Town Center Shops and the landmark Knotty Pine Restaurant. A third building, the former Happy Cow Discount Center, also was destroyed. The three buildings - which date as far back as 1870 - made up one of the town's main retail blocks.

"How awful is that when 50 percent of your town burns down?" said Tionesta resident Norm Wimer.

"Baghdad and basketball tournaments don't mean so much because this is our hometown," another stunned bystander at the scene of the blaze said. "These are our memories. What do you do?"

Fire reportedly broke out shortly after 5 p.m. in the former Happy Cow store, which sat in the middle of the other two buildings.

Glenn Johnson, Tionesta fire chief, said the fire is believed to have spread from the center structure into the upper levels of the other two buildings. Town Center Shops was the last building to be engulfed in plumes of orange flames.

Hours into the fire, what remained of that store was leaning into a utility pole next to a side street. The blaze was under control before 11 p.m. but firefighters remained on the scene dousing hot spots.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation and state police at Tionesta said a fire marshal was expected at the scene before midnight Sunday to investigate. Crews from PennDOT also were expected late last night with heavy equipment to help clear debris from Elm Street in order to reopen the road.

At least three firefighters suffered injuries during the fire, but Johnson did not know the extent or nature of their injuries Sunday night. A paramedic, however, said one of those only required oxygen.

Only one person, Sue Everly, lived in the upstairs of the Knotty Pine Restaurant. Her daughter and owner of the eatery, JoAnn Lewis of Pleasantville, said Everly was out of town when the blaze erupted. She is staying with family members.

Everly's cat reportedly perished in the blaze, Lewis said.

That decades-old establishment also was home to the Tionesta Lions Club, which lost its club supplies and the original club charter in the fire.

Throughout the evening, 911 centers in Clarion, Venango and Crawford counties dispatched a steady stream of fire companies to the scene. Some of those included Tionesta, West Hickory, Washington Township, Farmington Township, Clarion, Marienville, Pinegrove, Shippenville, Millcreek Township, Chapmanville, Cherrytree Township, Pinegrove Township, Pleasantville and Seneca.

Several other companies were on standby and the Salvation Army canteen wagon was on scene offering relief to firefighters.

In addition to battling the blaze on the three buildings, firefighters stood atop nearby roofs, dousing them with water to prevent heat damage or the further spread of fire. When crews drenched storefronts across the street from the burning block, steam could be seen radiating from those facades.

As the endless line of fire companies trailed into the Forest County town, thick, black plumes of smoke from the fire were visible miles up and down the Allegheny River valley. Meanwhile, hundreds of the town's residents and weekend out-of-towners stood with cameras in hand watching the fire in tearful shock.

"There isn't much left of Tionesta," one person lamented. "This is awful. It isn't really happening, is it?"

Lewis, who closed the Knotty Pine in 1999 and later reopened at the overwhelming request of restaurant patrons, said it's too early to know if she will reestablish the eatery.

"I have no idea at this point," she said. "We had such a good day at work, too."

Her building, as well as the others, was insured. A damage estimate was not available Sunday night.

Vickie Pinkerton of Fryburg was the owner of Town Center Shops, while Tionesta residents Paul and Cindy Millin owned the Happy Cow structure.

Before opening as an antique and gift store, Town Center Shops was known for several decades as Blum's General Store.

Cindy Millin said her father, Frank Faulkner, first opened the former Happy Cow in 1929 as a grocery store. The Happy Cow opened in May 1971.