Donations accepted, benefit planned for displaced residents of Avonmore fire

The Avonmore community is rallying around those who lost everything after a fire at My Buddy’s Place on Saturday.

Crews from nearly 30 surrounding volunteer fire companies responded to the bar at 407 Indiana Ave. to put out a fire that started Saturday afternoon. The scene was cleared early Sunday, nearly 10 hours later.

The fire destroyed the building, but there were no reported injuries. A dog died in the fire.

Two people lived in apartments upstairs. Donations are being accepted for Mackenzie Mitchell, one of the tenants, at her workplace, Cool Water Saloon at 1359 State Route 56 in Apollo.

A GoFundMe has been established for the second resident, Pete Clever.

The saloon is accepting medium to large shirts, large pants and size 8½ shoes for Mitchell, said Andrea Altmire, the saloon’s manager.

“She lost everything,” Altmire said. “There’s nothing left that was saved in that fire.”

Altmire plans to hold a benefit for Mitchell at noon June 30 at the saloon.

“She’s a good-hearted person. She would do anything for anyone,” Altmire said. “She loved her apartment and had pride in it. She’s a kind person who surrounded herself with a lot of friends.”

Clever’s GoFundMe reads in part: “He would drop everything he’s doing to be there for you and give you his last ($5) to help you. He unfortunately lost everything in this fire, and I’d like to raise some money for him to get back on his feet and not have to worry about what comes next.”

Jessica Igo, Clever’s sister-in-law, said her family hopes the GoFundMe raises enough money to assist him with getting into a new home.

Igo also is collecting men’s clothes and personal hygiene products for Clever. Anyone interested in donating items can send her a message through Facebook.

“Pete is such a hard worker and one of the nicest people I know,” Igo said. “He has literally dropped everything he was doing to help myself and/or his brother numerous times, and I know he’s done it for many others as well. He would give the shirt off his back to a complete stranger, even if it was his last one.”

Mitchell, Clever and bar owner Gerri Bumbaugh couldn’t be reached for comment.

“We just want to take a moment to express our gratitude toward all the first responders from yesterday,” said a statement posted to the bar’s Facebook page Sunday. “We are truly heartbroken to lose a place where so many memories were made. Thank you to everyone who supported this business for the past 30 years.”

Neighbors described My Buddy’s Place as a fun hangout spot and expressed sympathy for Bumbaugh.

The bar put tiny Avonmore in the spotlight in 2012 when some scenes for the movie “Promised Land” were shot there. The film featured actors Matt Damon, John Krasinski and Frances McDormand.

A cause of the fire wasn’t available Sunday. Firefighters on the scene Saturday said it might have started in the kitchen.

The three-story building collapsed in on itself and made fighting the blaze more difficult, fire officials said Saturday. An excavator was used to tear down walls so crews could extinguish the blaze.

Viewing the rubble Sunday afternoon, Joe Speranza of Saltsburg said he was surprised by how long it took for the fire to be put out.

He said he learned of the fire around 5 p.m. Saturday and wanted to drive by hours later, thinking the fire would have been out by then.

“It was about midnight when we came out here,” Speranza said. “There were still about a dozen firetrucks.”

Speranza and his family were able to donate clothes to the displaced residents. He also felt sorry for Bumbaugh.

“We gave them what we could,” he said.