Webster building damaged during fire

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com
A Donora family who leases a former bus garage in Webster received bad news Wednesday night.
Ruth Koontz, who has leased the property from Kenny Kolodziej for nearly 20 years, said she received a call last night that the building was on fire.
“I was getting ready to go to bed and I got a call saying the bus garage was on fire,” she said.
Several area fire departments and Rostraver Township police were on scene when she and her husband, Randy, arrived at the property located at 503 Webster Hollow Road. Smoke billowed from the building as firefighters arrived to the concrete structure.
Koontz said she and her husband use the building for storage. She said there were a few cars and a boat they own inside, in addition to other vehicles and items stored there by the building owner.
Doug Demko said he and another man, who was not identified, were at the garage when a van that was being worked on “exploded.”
Demko said he was holding the garage door open for the man, who was attempting to tow the van out of the garage with a truck.
The van moved about two feet before bursting into flames, Demko said.
“It was a big fire ball,” he said. “I tried to get a fire extinguisher on it but it was really bad.”
The unidentified man was allegedly taken to an area hospital by a family member for burns, Demko said.
Firefighters from Webster, Collinsburg, Rostraver Central and Lock 4 worked inside of the structure as heavy smoke billowed from the windows.
Flames were not visible from the outside of the building.
The extent of the damage, and cause of the fire, was not immediately available as of press time.
Koontz said she and her husband were preparing to move items stored inside of the structure to a different property in the coming weeks.
“I just can’t believe our luck or why this would happen to us,” she said. “It’s unbelievable.”