PITTSBURGH -- Fire broke out in Pittsburgh's North Side neighborhood early New Year's Day, gutting a flower shop, a salon and a Prohibition-era bar that was used during the shooting of the 2000 movie "Wonder Boys."
Emergency dispatchers said the fire started just before 2:30 a.m. Thursday in the second-floor apartment of a building in the 800 block of Western Avenue in the Allegheny West area. It took firefighters close to three hours to control the blaze.
Among the businesses destroyed was
K.S. Kennedy Distinctive Floral.
Kerry Kennedy lived above his flower shop for three years. He and some friends were celebrating the New Year. The party was just breaking up when the fire began.
"We just saw the smoke, came running downstairs, and that's when we realized the shop was on fire," Kennedy said. "There was nothing we could do. It was so fast. So fast."
Kennedy said he and his guests escaped before the building went up in flames.
"When we saw the smoke, we just made a mad dash down the steps. I also have a dog and she wasn't with us. So we ran back upstairs to grab her and her down, and basically the main idea was just away from the building," said Kennedy.
But as his home and business burned, Kennedy said neighbors reached out.
"Neighbors coming up, hugging each other, crying because the flower shop was gone. It was amazing. People coming and stuffing money in my pocket and saying ''It's OK, you're going to rebuild.' That's this neighborhood. Allegheny West is known for that," said Kennedy. "Every person in this neighborhood was saying ''You have a place to stay.' Luckily, the friends that were with me, I've been there. And just trying to pull myself together and realize we'll rebuild."
Also burned was Modern Cafe, a saloon that dated to 1933 and
stood in for The Hi-Hat Club in the 2000 movie of Michael Chabon's novel "Wonder Boys," with Michael Douglas.
Styles By Thomas & Thomas was also gutted in the fire. The owner of that hair salon was too upset to talk with WTAE Channel 4 Action News.
No major injuries were reported. Emergency dispatchers told Channel 4 Action News that one firefighter suffered a minor ankle injury.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
John DeSantis of the Allegheny West Civic Council said he's confident of a comeback, despite the losses.
"The individual who's run that (flower) shop has been a spark plug here in this Western Avenue business district, to kind of get business people together to get things going, so it's particularly sad for that," DeSantis said.
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