We’ve learned more information about what started a fire at a pizza shop in Butler Township overnight.
The fire was actually started after a truck snagged some low hanging wires and caused a utility pole to break. The pole then caught fire, and subsequently caught the Pizza Hut building on Route 8 south in Butler Township on fire.
According to Butler Township Police, 44-year-old Rene Aumada of Virginia was operating a tractor trailer that was making a delivery to the Pizza Hut around midnight Friday. As Aumada was leaving Pizza Hut’s parking lot, her truck “snagged some low handing wires and caused a West Penn Power utility pole on Pizza Hut’s property to break,” according to police.
Officials say the pole was bearing three transformers and multiple power and utility lines that were either connected to Pizza Hut or another West Penn Power pole on the other side of Route 8.
The Pizza Hut building was damaged when the power and utility lines started to catch fire. The fire appeared to originate on the Pizza Hut building on the southeast corner of the roof, according to police. The fire was quickly put out by firefighters.
It’s unclear how much damage was done to the building.
As the pole and several utility lines were lying across the road, a driver struck them with his vehicle. The driver- identified by police as 34-year-old Gene Gornick Sr. of Chestwick- was not injured. He had four passengers in his vehicle and none of them were injured either.
A portion of Route 8 south was shut down for roughly three hours as crews cleaned up the scene. Power in the area was out as well.
