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Fire Damages Apartments in Former Swiss Chalet Restaurant

WEST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP — Firefighters throughout Schuylkill County spent the morning putting out a fire in a home along Second Mountain Road near Orwigsb...

WEST BRUNSWICK TOWNSHIP -- Firefighters throughout Schuylkill County spent the morning putting out a fire in a home along Second Mountain Road near Orwigsburg.

Michael Huebner and his wife live down the road and noticed smoke coming from the home early Monday morning.

"I got a little closer and saw the flames through the windows of the doors and I said to my wife, 'that place was on fire,'" Huebner said.

Quick thinking led him inside the house to get those living there out.

"I just knew there were people living there, obviously living next door. I figured somebody had to be in there. I just started screaming, 'get out!'" Huebner said.

"He said, 'get out of the building, it's on fire!' I said, 'oh, OK.' Get your dogs and any possessions you want and get out," Jack Dennis said.

Dennis and his two dogs made it out safely, but his apartment and two other families' apartments now have a lot of damage.

"It moved fast. Before you knew it, smoke was coming out of the roof, out of the top floor and over on the other side," Dennis said.

Anyone who has lived in Schuylkill County for a while might remember the property as the old Swiss Chalet Restaurant. The popular spot closed a few decades ago before transitioning into apartments.

Michael Huebner says it's sad to see the fire destroy his neighbors apartments and a longtime county landmark.

"It was a very historic restaurant back in the day, Swiss Chalet. A lot of people, you just say the same and they remember it. It was a well eating place. It was a nice place," Huebner said.

A fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire.

Fire officials tell Newswatch 16 the three families displaced by the fire are being assisted by the American Red Cross.

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