The fire at 10 East Butler ( 555 Lagiola ) that erupted on the morning of February 27, not only caused major damage to the restaurant, but the surrounding buildings as well. Minuteman Press, directly next door is operating and able to stay in their location, however, the building on the other side of 555 Lagiola that houses Jeff Boyer-State farm Insurance and Larry Weiss at Ambler Tax Center, along with three apartments above has significant smoke damage that has forced these residents and businesses to find a temporary place to live and work.

We were told that the cause of the fire was an electrical short in a receptacle at the counter at 555 Lagiola, but we will update with an official report once that is available. See more details and the article about the fire from February 27th here.

We had a chance to speak with Larry Weiss at Ambler Tax Center ,located at 6 East Butler, who was able to immediately move into the old Borough Police Station building at 31 East Butler Avenue ( Butler and Spring Garden) because of the generosity of its landlord who, within hours, offered Larry his space. Ambler Tax Center incurred significant smoke damage that will take several months at a minimum to repair. Weiss told us:

“…Thanks to the Ambler community, the neighbors and businesses who reacted quickly in our need to relocate, and assist in that relocation so we could be operating as quickly as possible.

We also spoke with Jeff Boyer, State Farm Agent. His business has also been displaced due to the fire and smoke damage, and he also happened to live in one of the three apartments above his business, so he has had to relocate his business and pack his things and go to a temporary living space. Jeff told us that, thanks to Denine Wish, owner at Mermaid Art Studio, Jeff’s insurance business has a temporary place to operate his business. He said:

“…The businesses in Ambler have reached out and have been extremely helpful in this process…”

As of yesterday, State Farm is up and running out of Mermaid’s space and can service customers. Jeff told us that he is working towards servicing policy owners from the back room at 2 East Butler as soon as the damage is cleaned up enough to move back in. This will likely be able to happen before the front of the building is repaired.