UPDATE: Taken by fire, Miller's Food Factory will return

June 26--SADSBURY TOWNSHIP -- A Conneaut Lake icon is temporarily out business after Miller's Food Factory was destroyed by a fire Wednesday. But the owners say they will rebuild.

Both Miller brothers, Doug and Gary, said the 28-year-old restaurant will be rebuilt on the same spot once the insurance is settled.

"That's our plan," Doug said regarding rebuilding the restaurant. The Millers couldn't predict when the restaurant will reopen.

"We built it once," Gary said. "We'll do it again."

The restaurant was closed when the fire began around 7:25 p.m. There were no employees in the eatery when the fire started, as the restaurant is normally open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"I'm just glad nobody got hurt," Doug said. No firefighters were injured during the blaze, according to Conneaut Lake Fire Chief Mike Betts.

Doug and his wife, Tracy, were waiting outside the burnt shell of the building Thursday morning while Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Ken Hamilton inspected the building.

"It appears an accidental-type undetermined fire," Hamilton said. "There's no inkling of foul play."

It could be four or five days before Hamilton makes his official ruling on the cause of the fire, he said. According to Gary, the fire was electrical.

Restaurant patrons stopped by to see the family on Thursday. A number of area residents stopped by Wednesday night to watch as smoke billowed from the restaurant.

Conneaut Lake's Chris Chiesa has been a regular at Miller's for 20 years.

"It's terrible. It's more of a Conneaut Lake icon than anything," Chiesa said. "There isn't any other place you can go with parking and nice people running it."

Conneaut Lake resident Dave Vaughn helped build the restaurant and said this was the first time one of the buildings he'd helped construct had burned.

"It's so painful to see good people you watched coming in and learning how to run a restaurant to being an icon, then lose it all in one night," Vaughn said.

Vaughn said he has eaten breakfast at Miller's for more than 15 years.

"I saw a lot of days start here," Vaughn said.

"This is a really tragic thing," former Miller's employee Lacey Shilling said. "That was just a landmark in Conneaut Lake. Everyone went there."

Shilling remembered a picture of the Millers' father that hung by the cash register. The picture was taken with singing cowboy movie star Roy Rogers.

"It was a real conversation piece," Shilling said.

Betts said the call came in at 7:25 p.m. and units were at the fire scene for 3 1/2 hours. Eight fire departments and an ambulance service were dispatched to the scene.

"Everyone worked well together," Betts said. "We're fortunate to have what's left so we can figure out what happened."

The nearest fire hydrant to the fire was on Route 18. This caused firefighters to have to lay 3,000 feet of hose to the nearest water supply, Betts said.

The restaurant had an early fire detection system and it worked, Betts said. The alert went from an alarm to a full structure fire within a minute, Betts said.

Conneaut Lake Volunteer Fire Department was re-dispatched to the scene at 8:30 a.m. for some hot spots which rekindled.

With the summer beginning to hit its stride, Gary said they'll miss their customers. He said there were vacationers who made a point of eating at the restaurant.

"They're not just our customers, they're friends and family," Gary said.

Along with the well-wishers, many people have stopped at the fire scene to give the Millers money. Gary said that the donations are appreciated but the restaurant was fully insured and all the family's needs are being met.

"The community's been great," Doug said. "Everybody has been real supportive."

Earl Corp can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at ecorp@meadvilletribune.com.

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