CONNELLSVILLE, Pa. — A fire inside a very old Connellsville-area building has been burning for nearly 24 hours.
More than 60 firefighters and a half-dozen fire departments were called out to the fire Monday night.
Nearly 24 hours after the fire broke out at the old distillery, flames could still be seen smoldering from underneath the pile of charred wood Tuesday.
Neighbors living in the area couldn't do anything but watch Monday night as smoke poured from one of the old buildings on the edge of the Yough River.
When you come into the small town of Broad Ford, you can still see the smoke lingering through town and firefighters said it could be like that for days because of what business used to be housed in the building.
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"When we moved here, it was Overholt and whiskey was made there and at one time, it was a busy place," resident Suzanne Evans said.
"All those buildings were soaked with whisky and whatever else over 100 years so in the past those buildings burn in our past experience very hot," said Connellsville Township VFD Assistant Chief Rob Leiberger.
Firefighters said Overholt Distillery was built in the late 1800s to early 1900s and its heavy timber frame structure brings a lot of fire and a lot of heat, and with a basement underneath, it could be burning for days.
Firefigthers said it wasn't the first time they've been on the property. In the last 24 years of being a volunteer, Leiberger said he's been called to the old distillery about five times.
The fire was sparked by embers from another fire in someone's yard.
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