Donations sought to help Brownsville fire victims

All the residents in apartments above Pickers Pub and Grub were able to escape safely.

On Sunday, a commercial building fire broke out where Pickers Pub and Grub in Brownsville is located, leaving the residents in the apartments upstairs without homes.

The original call was made to South Brownsville late Sunday afternoon with the origin being a second-floor apartment on the right side of the building.

South Brownsville Chief Ron Barry said they aren’t sure what caused the fire, and the fire marshal is looking into it. There is heavy smoke damage throughout the building, including Pickers Pub and Grub, along with water damage.

“Those old buildings, a fire can go a hundred different ways and that’s why they were concerned about it,” Barry said. “Every time that they got one out, it popped up somewhere else. They stayed on top of it and they got it under control. The building is still solid.”

EMS was on the scene keeping everyone hydrated, Barry added, and the department’s new rehab unit heavy duty air conditioning system was used as a mobile cooling center for anybody who needed it.

Charleroi Fire Department assisted South Brownsville Borough with RIT operations, and California Volunteer Fire Department helped as well.

Brownsville, West Brownsville, Republic Volunteer Fire Company, Grindstone, Bentleyville, Allison, Fayette City and Washington Township were also at the scene. Roscoe covered South Brownsville’s station.

The owners of the building at 101 High St., Ron White Jr., Ron White Sr. and Jaymee Lutes, said they are “devastated,” but relieved that the tenants and staff all got out safely.

“First of all thank you all for the outpouring of support and kind words of concern for us while we dealt with the fire that broke out in our building yesterday and an additional thank you to our first responders who kept this from being an even bigger tragedy,” the building owners wrote Monday in a Facebook post.

“While we are just beginning to try and wrap our arms around the damages and the future we need to take a moment to first try and help our tenants who lived in our apartments upstairs who’ve lost everything and are in need of assistance for relocation, clothes, food and essentials.”

Brownsville’s department had one ankle and one wrist injury. Both firefighters were taken to the emergency room and released Sunday night. Another had a steam burn and was treated on the scene.

“Everybody is OK for the most part,” Brownsville Chief Richard Black said. “We got some broken bones and a burn, but otherwise they went home last night from the hospital.”

Over a 48-hour period, Brownsville had 11 calls for service, according to Black, and made it from back-to-back single family dwelling fires in four minutes to the commercial fire.

“It’s been pretty busy for those guys. So they were all still fire safe,” Black said. “You don’t see that often. We’re still pretty fortunate to have manpower on both sides, Brownsville and South Brownsville. We’re pretty fortunate to have much luckier than some. They’ve had a rough go the past couple of days.”

“I have to give credit to the guys because they had fought a fire right before that over in Redstone Township and they were coming back and fought that one in 85-degree heat,” Barry said. “They didn’t miss a beat; they got right back to it. By the time I got there, they were really looking beat, so I called for some reinforcements from some outside companies to help with manpower because the heat was taking its toll. Thankfully nobody had to go to the hospital because of heat exhaustion or anything like that.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up for the residents, and all donations will be directly distributed to the tenants to assist them in relocating, replacing belongings, essentials and giving them a “head start.”

The page has raised $3,355 of its $30,000 goal as of Monday night. It can be found by searching for “Pickers Pub and Grub” on the GoFundMe website.

“The impact of this tragedy is profound. Families have lost their belongings, cherished memories, and a sense of security,” the page reads. “Many tenants are facing immediate challenges: finding temporary housing, replacing essential items, and navigating the emotional toll of this experience. Thank you for any support you can provide during this challenging time for these folks.”