Families displaced after fire tears through historic Butler County town market on Christmas
By: Lauren Linder/KDKA-TV
WEST SUNBURY, Pa. (KDKA) - Neighbors in a small borough of Butler County are reeling after a fire wiped away their local town market on Christmas morning. It also took the homes of four people living upstairs.
Bright orange flames and heavy smoke consumed the air through West Sunbury on Sunday. It's all anyone could see from miles away.
Brienna Simmons watched, in shock, knowing it was coming from Thompson's Market downtown.
"It was like a ball of fire just coming out," Simmons said. "It's like an unimaginable thing to even process."
Simmons was born and raised in the borough, and always went to the market as a kid. She still did, everyone did, and to see it burning to the ground was devastating. It was a landmark and the only food market in the tight-knit community. Now, they will have to drive miles away to get their groceries.
"Everybody that worked there, they treated you like family. You would walk in and they knew you by name," Simmons said.
Her boyfriend, Matthew Martin, responded to the scene with Butler Township, one of many fire stations helping the effort.
"I didn't know what to think. Is this really happening? Is this really Thompson's burning?" Martin said.
West Sunbury Fire Chief, Reid Campbell, said they got called to the scene just after 10 a.m.
Upon arrival, crews found fire in the basement traveling through the building.
Between a lack of visibility and hydrants, along with high winds and bitter cold, it took several hours to get the fire under control, and save the other structures nearby.
"We had a lot of tankers come in because this isn't a well-hydrated area," Martin said.
The building is a total loss, destroying two apartment units and the market inside. A mom and her teenage son and daughter, along with an elderly man are now without a home. First responders transported the man to the hospital for smoke inhalation. The mom and two teens escaped unharmed. No one was in the market at the time.
All of them are already filled with support from the community.
Crystal Baptiste of Three C's Pizza is accepting donations.
"It's just what we do," Baptiste said. "We all stick together and have each other's backs in this town."
Neighbors helping neighbors in the worst of times.
"There's no doubt that the people of the community will do anything less than the most that they could do," Simmons said.
A cause remains under investigation.
If you would like to donate to those impacted by the fire you can visit or reach out to Three C's Pizza in West Sunbury. They are accepting some of the following items:
- Extra small women's clothing, size-8 women's shoes
- Extra large women's tops, large (size-16) women's bottoms, size-10 women's shoes
- Double-extra large men's tops, size-34 men's pants, size-13 shoes
- Extra large or double-extra large men's tops, size-9 shoes