Fire levels restaurant in New Castle, Pa.

By Jeanne Starmack

A family in a house behind the restaurant had to evacuate.

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — A fire destroyed a restaurant on Croton Avenue, leaving an owner of the building wondering Monday if he’ll rebuild.

Three people in a house on Vine Street behind Matty’s Diner, 1102 Croton, had to be evacuated after the fire started about 11 p.m. Sunday.

The New Castle Fire Department reported that the city and state fire marshals are investigating the cause.

The restaurant, open for only two months, had closed Nov. 8, said Gerald Senchak, who owns the building with his son.

Gerald and his brother, Andy Senchak, said they changed the locks on the building then because of a broken lease agreement with their tenant.

Before the tenant moved in and began operating Matty’s, Andy Senchak operated a restaurant there called Errichettos.

“Andy was here 41‚Ñ2 years,” said Gerald, adding that’s how long he’s owned the building.

He doesn’t know if he’ll rebuild, saying it depends on what his insurance company will do.

Andy estimated that the building and the equipment inside were valued at close to $200,000.

Firefighters were on the scene for nearly four hours, the fire department said.

Behind the restaurant at 424 Vine St. is Ida Bonfield’s house.

The 91-year-old woman lives there with her daughter and son-in-law, Bonnie and Raymond Johnson.

“I’m all shook up,” said Bonfield on Monday morning. Firefighters had evacuated the family, and they spent about four hours in their car parked up the street, she said.

Some of the shingles on the roof of the Vine Street house were buckled, and Bonfield pointed out dried, black residue on the floor along the walls in the kitchen, where sooty water had leaked through. Still, the damage there appeared minimal.

“The firemen did a terrific job,” she said about the efforts to save her home. “They pumped water for hours.”