BEAVER SPRINGS — A gas heater may have sparked a fire that leveled a family owned ice cream shop in Snyder County early Tuesday.
A passing motorist called 911 to report the fire at Bread of Life Creme Stop, along Route 522, around 2:20 a.m.
According to Beaver Springs Fire Chief Nick Weader, the cause of the blaze is undetermined, but is believed to have started in the rear of the dining room, and spread throughout the dining area and part of the kitchen.
Damage to the building is estimated at $100,000, but owners Greg Spece, of McAlisterville, and his son, Nick Spece, of Thompsontown, are insured.
Norm Fedder, state police fire marshal from the Milton station, said he believes the fire started near a floor-mounted gas heater in along the south wall of the dining area. The restaurant closed in October for winter.
The Speces got the call about the fire around 2:30 a.m., and arrived around a half-hour later.
“When we were coming down around the mountain from Juniata County, we could see the smoke,” Nick Spece said.
The building was fully engulfed when they arrived.
Nick Spece said the restaurant portion of the building was wooden, which burned quickly. The kitchen and ice cream shop area was made of concrete, which Spece said made it seem like an oven, melting everything inside its walls.
Although untouched by fire, a storage room was destroyed by smoke and water damage.
“We’re staying positive,” Nick Spece said.
The Speces are not sure about rebuilding the shop until they know the full extent of the damage and costs involved.
The Speces also own the Bread of Life Restaurant in McAlisterville. The property in Beaver Springs was predominantly an ice cream business.
Approximately 30 to 40 firefighters from Beaver Springs, Beavertown, McClure, and Middleburg fire companies responded to the call. They remained on the scene for approximately four hours.
While investigators have a theory about how the fire started, its cause is officially being called undetermined because of the severe amount of damage, and because several possible causes could not be eliminated.
The fire is not believed to be suspicious, but anyone with information regarding the fire is asked to contact Fedder at the state police barracks in Milton at 524-0503.
n E-mail comments to tpursell@dailyitem.com
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Fire levels family owned ice cream shop
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