Jan. 21--A Sunday morning fire that destroyed Lake Erie Dental on Peach Street also sparked blazes at the Station Dinner Theatre and a house on West Gore Road.
"The dental office is a total loss," said Chief John Hanke of the Kearsarge Volunteer Fire Department.
While the cause of the blaze at 4944 Peach St. was under investigation, it was possibly related to a nearby utility pole that had been snapped and power lines that had been downed by the wind. Officials said the two other fires were started by embers carried by the wind from the first fire.
"With the wind blowing, it's very hard to control," Hanke said. "We had embers that started other fires."
Wind gusts recorded at Erie International Airport on Sunday morning hit their high shortly before the fires. An official with the National Weather Service office in Cleveland said wind gusts peaked at 59 mph at 5:19 a.m.
Kearsarge firefighters were dispatched about 20 minutes later to the area near the dental office for a report of power lines down and arcing on Washington Avenue, Hanke and Deputy Chief Dan Hesch said. A neighbor, who called 911, had spotted flashes coming from a utility pole, a large pine tree blown over onto wires and then smoke, fire and an explosion at the office.
Hesch said crews found a utility pole snapped by the wind near Washington Avenue and Richmond Street and power lines across the street. The dental office, although it has a Peach Street address, is closer to the intersection of Washington and Richmond.
Firefighters also found heavy smoke coming from the front roof area of Lake Erie Dental.
"The fire had a good start on us," Hanke said. "It was already in the attic."
Hesch said, "In under 10 minutes' time the fire was through the roof."
Firefighters who had gone into the building to fight the blaze were pulled back outside, he said.
"The fire just took control of the building," Hesch said.
He said a compressed cylinder blew out a section of the back wall, sending a rear door flying into a neighboring yard.
The Lake Erie Dental structure housed the practice of Kevin Sambuchino.
According to a statement issued Sunday by the office, all patient dental records were maintained electronically by an off-site computer system and have not been lost.
"Dr. Sambuchino will continue to practice at other dental offices beginning this week," the statement said.
Other dentists were already offering space Sunday for Sambuchino to work in and his patients should call Lake Erie Dental's phone number, which was still in operation, to learn where he would be, according to the statement.
The building had been in the Sambuchino family for 47 years, with Kevin Sambuchino's father, Richard, providing dental services there first, according to the statement. A psychiatrist, whom the Sambuchinos had been unable to reach Sunday, also had office space there. An official said it was too early to tell if the family would rebuild there or relocate the office.
While fire crews were busy trying to put out the blaze at the dental office, a fire at 1319 W. Gore Road was reported at 6:42 a.m., an Erie County 911 supervisor said.
A garage attached to the house there was heavily damaged, as was a vehicle inside that garage.
That fire was under control by 7:16 a.m., the emergency supervisor said.
The house is a little more than a tenth of a mile east of the dental office. Firefighters managed to get the blaze at Lake Erie Dental under control at 7:39 a.m., the 911 supervisor said. But crews continued to put water on embers and hot spots later in the morning.
Hanke said crews also had been misting water onto the roof of the Station Dinner Theatre, 4940 Peach St., to try to avoid a fire in the building next to the dental office.
However, at a little after 8:30 a.m., black smoke, followed by flames, began appearing from the roof of the Station. Firefighters quickly left the dental building, which was still smoldering, to tackle the new blaze. They had it under control in about 20 minutes.
"Due to embers, part of the roof partition caught on fire at the Station," Hesch said.
He said the inside of the restaurant and tavern suffered smoke and water damage.
Owner Paul Urbanowicz said the damage was mostly kept to the front lobby area of the building and won't interrupt regular business. He said the theater or kitchen were not damaged, meaning the theater will be ready to open on Feb. 9 for the scheduled start of its season.
"We'll still be up and running and everything," Urbanowicz said. "The firefighters did a great job."
Peach Street near the fires was closed to traffic for several hours, but was reopened Sunday afternoon.
Kearsarge firefighters were assisted at the scene by crews from at least nine other area fire departments and companies including all of Millcreek's and firefighters from Erie, officials said. Hesch estimated that more than 60 firefighters were there.
"There were no injuries to any firefighters," he said.
They did, however, have to work in below-freezing temperatures, the chiefs said.
Hesch said firefighters were grateful to the nearby Country Fair store, which offered aide to firefighters in the cold conditions. Several neighbors also came out offering hot chocolate and coffee.
Staff writer Sean McCracken contributed to this report.
DANA MASSING can be reached at 870-1729 or by e-mail. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNmassing.
Copyright 2013 - Erie Times-News, Pa.
