Historic 132-year-old Pa. inn burns

CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS, PA. >> A 132-year-old inn popular as a wedding and banquet destination has burned in northwestern Pennsylvania, though it’S 12 guests and three staff escaped unharmed.

Riverside: The Inn at Cambridge Springs, opened in 1885, when the town was a summer destination for wealthy visitors eager to drink from the town’s supposedly health-inducing springs. Cambridge Springs is about 100 miles north of Pittsburgh.

The fire was reported about 1:10 a.m. Tuesday and eventually drew firefighters from 20 departments in Crawford and neighboring Erie County. A state police fire marshal was trying to determine the cause, though that may be difficult to determine given the extensive damage to the structure.

Two firefighters were injured, one in a fall and the other being struck by a vehicle while directing traffic. Their names and conditions were not immediately released.

“It’s devastating to all of the residents,” Mayor Randy Gorske said, referring to spectators who gathered to watch the firefighting efforts. “It’s a sad day, just a sad day for it to go so quickly.”

Tera Vandoren was married at the inn and celebrated her anniversary there recently.

“It’s just a big part of Cambridge Springs,” she said, standing nearby with her children, weeping.

Cambridge Springs Volunteer Fire Company Chief Jeff Murdock said the old wooden building’s lack of modern fire breaks and wide open ballrooms made it a difficult fire to fight.

“There was a lot of access for the fire to run and get ahead of us,” Murdock said.

Owners Mike and Marie Halliday first bought it in 1985 and sold it in 2010 before recently repurchasing the property.

General Manager Jeremy Ball said the inn’s staff swells to 85 during the summer. Now, they’ll be busy contacting people who have booked weddings and other events so they can move them to other venues.

The fire was not only devastating to the community of about 2,500 people “but all the small businesses in town, I think, were starting to grow because (the inn) was doing so well,” Ball said.