Small fire at Etna warehouse where spring blaze destroyed luxury cars

Tom Davidson And Tawnya Panizzi
Friday, Sept. 6, 2019 5:58 a.m. | Friday, Sept. 6, 2019 5:58 a.m.

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Fire crews were called to this storage warehouse in Etna on Sept. 6, 2019. It was previously heavily damaged in May when fire swept through the building.

A small fire early Friday caused nearly no damage at an Etna warehouse that burned in May, causing millions of dollars in damage to luxury cars that were stored there, the borough’s police chief said.

Workers are shoring up the area that was damaged in the earlier fire and a small fire started in the area where they were working at about 2:30 a.m., , Chief Tim Rodman said.

The fire department responded to an alarm there.

Debris that are remnants of the earlier fire burned, Rodman said.

The massive 110,000-square-foot building along Butler Street was once the Tippins mill and is now owned by STORExpress, a self-storage company with locations throughout the region.

STORExpress owner Steve Mitnick didn’t return messages seeking comment about the latest fire.

The May 8, fire started in a garage bay and is still under investigation by the Allegheny County Fire Marshall’s office.

Tom Davidson and Tawnya Panizzi are Tribune-Review staff writers. You can contact Tom at 724-226-4715, tdavidson@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TribDavidson. You can contact Tawnya at 412-782-2121, ext. 1512, tpanizzi@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tawnyatrib.