Warren fire damages longtime city business

Staff report

WARREN

A fire in a first-floor room in the back of a building at 470 E. Market St. will close the historic Colonial Shoe Repair for a while, but the business will reopen, said owner Sammy Revmatas.

Warren firefighters were called to the building about 6 a.m. Tuesday and found “smoke everywhere,” said Neil Heller, assistant Warren fire chief. It caused more than $100,000 in damage and does not appear to have been intentionally set, said fire Chief Ken Nussle.

The blaze caused smoke and heat damage to the repair shop and other parts of the building, including two apartments on the second floor.

The fire appears to have started in a room where older gentlemen gather during days and evenings to drink coffee and play cards, but a cause has not been determined, Nussle said.

No one was in the building at the time of the fire. The only injuries were minor ones to two firefighters, Nussle said.

Revmatas said the repair shop probably will need roof repairs, new wiring and general cleanup before it can reopen.

The shop has been in business since the 1920s and has been owned by his family since his father first owned it in the late 1960s, Revmatas said.