Fire at food store to be ruled as arson today

The fire that destroyed the Convenient Food Store at 39th and Walnut streets will be officially ruled arson today, according to Lieutenant Harry Young of the Philadelphia Fire Department Fire Marshall's office. Although the case was not ruled arson until today, the owners of neighboring businesses, such as College Pizza and Baskin Robbins, as well as the manager of Mega Video said they were informed Friday about the cause of the fire by the Fire Department. College Pizza owner Ulysses Lancellotti said he was angered by news of the arson. His store suffered severe damage from the fire with costs totaling an estimated $50,000 to $60,000. "People like that don't belong in this country," Lancellotti said of the arsonist. "This country wasn't made for people like that. "It's so unfair because we all work so hard for our businesses," he added. Lancellotti said that the fire was the most traumatic experience he has undergone in 30 years. The store has been closed since the fire and Lancellotti hopes to open in about a week. He added yesterday that a private investigator from an insurance company is also looking into the Convenient Food Store fire to search for clues as to its cause. And Baskin Robbins owner Eric Yates said that although the incident caused little damage to his store, it has upset him. "It's definitely arson," Yates said. "[And] if it was arson the whole block was put at risk. If it wasn't for the Fire Department's quick actions, we could have all lost our businesses." Yates recalled receiving a phone call from Lancellotti telling him that his store was on fire. "I thought for sure it was a bad dream," Yates said. Rodney O'Neil, vice president of Superior Restoration Services, the company that is working to refurbish the former AMC movie theater, said the theater also suffered smoke damage. He added, however, that the new theater will be ready for its opening date of April 1. "It's not going to affect the target date at all," O'Neil said. Mega Video suffered severe smoke damage, as well as damage to its computer system and video tapes. Orest Hrabowy, manager of Mega Video, said last week that the store would be opening in a few weeks.