New report unveils cause of massive fire at Latrobe 30 Shoppes

UNITY TOWNSHIP, PA. (KDKA) -- In a report released by the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal, the cause of the fire at the Latrobe 30 Shoppes in the early morning hours of April 23 was electrical in nature and overall accidental.

The fire started at Roadman's Country Living store and quickly spread to nearby businesses , some of which are still closed and recovering from fire, smoke and water damage.

However, some stores like Jerald Jewelers, which was just a few storefronts down from the inferno, said they were able to reopen quickly, just a day after the fire.

"The loyalty of our customer base is moving," said Erica Sellman, the store manager of Jerald Jewelers. "So many voicemails, so many inquiries -- if we needed help cleaning, if we are open. We're open and trying to keep things normal."

One business that was directly affected was the training gym My Fitness Kitchen. They were right beside the Country Living Store.

Through a herculean effort by their members, however, they were able to clean and relocate much of their equipment to a temporary storefront in another part of the plaza.

"Is it ideal for us? Absolutely not," said Mark Rullo, the owner of My Fitness Kitchen. "But we are getting by. It is half the space that we had before. We have half the tools that we had before, but we can train anyone anywhere and still keep it personalized, still keep it customized and make sure that they have a great experience and are moving forward to their health and fitness objectives."

Everyone KDKA-TV spoke with Thursday is hopeful that this community center of some 20-plus shops and restaurants will soon be whole again.

Property manager Ralph Scalise believes that rebuilding is going to be a chore. They have steel to remove and replace, among other issues. He thinks this damaged part of the plaza will rise from the ashes.

"The plaza has still been uniquely busy, for which we have been very thankful of," said Scalise. "And we have in a few weeks, Harbor Freight that is going to be opening back up. And we hope who will follow them in three to four weeks will be Goodwill and we are hoping the entire center could be done could be done in early spring."