Official rules blaze accidental

A portable outdoor arena is expected to be in operation by the weekend.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- City Fire Marshal Robert Goeltz said the blaze that destroyed the Olympic Fun Center at 4070 E. State St. was accidental.
The fire was discovered about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, and it started in an electrical service panel on the west side of the building, Goeltz said.
The structural steel supporting part of the roof started to collapse, and the building is a total loss, he said.
Everything was fine when the last person left the building about 6 p.m. Tuesday, Goeltz said.
The owners have both fire insurance and business disruption insurance, he said.
Joe and Dawn Smith of Youngstown bought the roller skating rink nearly five years ago, and Joe Smith estimated the damage at $1.5 million.
Plan to rebuild
He said they plan to rebuild as soon as possible "and keep rolling."
It's the only rink in the Shenango Valley, he said.
Smith, a former skate racing champion who grew up in Austintown, is a certified public accountant, but skating is his first love, said his mother, Mary Smith of Austintown.
Dawn Smith said the business recently purchased skate ramps for an outdoor arena in the parking lot, but the ramps were stored inside the building at night.
Her husband said the ramps survived the fire and that Olympic might be able to set the ramps up in the front parking lot and reopen that part of the business as early as Friday.
Goeltz said most of the fire was confined to a relatively small area on the west side of the building, but the heat build-up inside the metal-sided building was tremendous, and most of the damage was caused by heat and water.
Some smoke from the fire drifted into the F.N.B. Customer Service Center just to the east of Olympic, and maintenance workers there were using high-powered fans to vent the building.
Goeltz said firefighters from Sharpsville and Farrell assisted at the scene.
Two Hermitage firefighters were overcome by heat and were treated at UPMC Horizon in Farrell, he said.
Water problem
Firefighting efforts were hampered briefly when a 12-inch water main running along East State Street in front of the business ruptured as firefighters tapped into hydrants at the State Street intersections with Androla Drive and Keel Ridge Road.
"That's the first time that ever happened," said Goeltz, a 35-year veteran of the fire department.
Fire crews were able to continue fighting the blaze with water on their trucks while a new line was laid to a hydrant further south on Keel Ridge Road, he said.
Smith said he was alerted to something amiss at the rink by his alarm company, which called to tell him that motion detectors in the business activated around 7:30 a.m.
Goeltz said employees entering a neighboring business spotted flames on the west side of the building around that same time.