No injuries in Penn Hills fire at former Rosedale Lanes building

A portion of the roof of a Penn Hills building that formerly housed the old Rosedale Lanes bowling alley caught fire around midday Jan. 31. Firefighters from three Penn Hills fire departments, including the nearby Rosedale fire station, responded to the one alarm fire at what is now Topline Converter Inc., a custom remanufacturing shop.

There were no injuries, according to Penn Hills Chief Fire Marshall Chuck Miller. He estimated there was about $2,000 in damage. The fire was started by a rooftop exhaust pipe connected to the heating system, Miller said.

“They had a reclaimed oil heater (that uses old motor oil and the like) in there. There are special furnaces that will burn that off and where the flue comes out of the structure, that caught the roofing material on fire right there,” Miller said.

Topline employee Erica Metz said there was a burning smell.

“I smelled (something) burning. I was just sniffing every crack and crevice to figure out what it was,” Metz said.

Crews arrived on the scene and went to the roof.

According to Miller, the fire did not spread far. “Just the area around the flue pipe,” he said.

It took about 10-15 minutes to extinguish the fire, Miller said. Crews ventilated the structure once the fire was extinguished.

The business remained open after the fire was out and employees said the damage was minimal.

Miller said an investigation was under way.