4-alarm fire erupts at Nicholas Coffee Co.
A lunch-hour crowd that gathered Friday in Market Square for warm weather and a weekly summer music series ended up watching Pittsburgh fire crews battle a four-alarm blaze at Nicholas Coffee Co.
It was the second time in nearly five months that the coffee shop had experienced a fire.
A bystander was treated for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported, city public safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said.
The fire was reported about 11:45 a.m. in the Downtown plaza and was mostly under control by 1 p.m., officials said.
The blaze started in Nicholas Coffee, Pittsburgh fire Chief Darryl Jones said. He said the fire was “labor-intensive” and “very hard to fight and locate” because it traveled through the building walls.
Firefighters had to open the roof to get to the blaze, Chief Jones said.
The Fire Bureau and the city’s Permits, Licenses and Inspections office were investigating.
Ms. Toler said the fire went to four alarms “only for manpower reasons. It’s a hot day.”
Paramedics checked the vital signs of several firefighters, but Ms. Toler said none was injured.
Chief Jones said firefighting gear adds extra weight, making it feel “like you’re wearing a snowsuit in this weather.”
There was no word late Friday on the extent of damage or when Nicholas Coffee might reopen for business.
The part of Market Square where the fire occurred has been the scene of a number of blazes over the years, most recently in February, when a batch of roasting beans caught fire.
No one was injured in that blaze.
In 2014, a fire heavily damaged NOLA, a New Orleans-inspired bar and restaurant, and two other businesses.