NEW CASTLE Insurance investigators to assess fire damage to 3-story building

The blaze damaged Bruno's Tin Man Lounge and two apartments, but nobody was injured.
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Owners of a tavern that was gutted by fire say they will reopen.
Dan Bruno, whose daughter, Marcia, owns Bruno's Tin Man Lounge on West Washington Street, said they plan to either rebuild or move to another location. Bruno worked at the bar with his daughter.
Insurance investigators are expected sometime today to assess the damage, he said.
Fire investigators have not yet released their findings, but Bruno said the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshals spent most of the day Tuesday combing through the remains of the three-story building.
New Castle police say they were alerted to the fire by two tenants in an upstairs apartment.
Elaine Hall, 41, was awakened by the smell of smoke and the sound of smoke alarms at 2:20 a.m. Tuesday. She woke her boyfriend, Edwin Sheffield Lewis, 48, and they left through an outside fire escape.
The two were trapped on the escape when the ladder would not release to the ground, police said. Firefighters had to place another ladder near the escape to help them down. No injuries were reported.
No warning: Bruno said he and his daughter had closed the bar and left at 2:15 a.m. and there was no smell of smoke or flames.
Bruno said state police fire investigators did not tell him the cause of the blaze, but they did say it wasn't arson.
The building at 440 W. Washington Street was about 75 years old and had previously been an Isaly's store, Bruno said. The tavern was on the first floor and there were two apartments upstairs. The second apartment's tenant was not home when the blaze started.