Dave "Hippo" Grasso Sr. watched a Pac-Man-like bulldozer chew off the awnings of the century-old building that had housed, arguably, what was once the hottest club in Penn Hills.

Hippo's Pub, on Verona Road where Sandy Creek Road crosses to become Coal Hollow Road, was gutted yesterday in a predawn fire. The three-story brick shell and charred rubble in the flooded basement were all that remained.

"All my work, down the drain," Mr. Grasso, 78, said, standing in the Molyneaux Carpet store parking lot across Verona Road, as his landmark club was ripped apart by a demolition crew.

The two-alarm fire was reported just before 5 a.m. The building was engulfed in flames when the first fire trucks arrived at 4:50 a.m.

Matt Henshaw, fire chief at Penn Hills' Rosedale company, said he immediately called for backup. His team was joined by four other companies, including a ladder truck from Oakmont. They were able to fight the blaze only from the outside.

"The interior floors came down right away," Chief Henshaw said. "No one was injured. And there are no witnesses that I know of."

The cause of the fire was being investigated by the Allegheny County fire marshal. Guy Pratillo, Mr. Grasso's brother-in-law, said police and family were eager to view video surveillance from cameras mounted at the Molyneaux building.

The fire closed portions of several roads during the morning commute, including Verona, Coal Hollow and Sandy Creek roads.

Westbound Verona Road remained closed most of yesterday, serving as part of the demolition collapse zone. The others were reopened to traffic by 9:30 a.m.

The heat from the fire was intense even before daybreak, Chief Henshaw said. Fortunately, he said, the suppression efforts minimized the threat to a gasoline station across Verona Road and a pressured gas outlet across Coal Hollow Road.

The building's gas service had been discontinued in April. Duquesne Light Co. workers arrived later in the morning to disconnect the electricity.

Mr. Grasso said no one knew the cause of the fire yesterday, but he suggested the origin might have been in a first-floor storage room with an exit perched on the bank of tiny Sandy Creek. The building's circuit box was installed in that room.

Though the building was insured, Mr. Grasso said he was not sure the fully equipped pub's contents were covered.

According to the Allegheny County real estate Web site, the building at 4690 Verona Road had an assessed value of $162,400.

Mr. Grasso, a retired Port Authority bus driver, said he bought the building in 1979 for his son, David Jr. The structure had begun as a department store in 1907. Mr. Grasso transformed the first floor into a bar, and eventually, part of the second floor into a ballroom.

For more than two decades, beginning in 1979, Hippo's Pub was all the rage in Penn Hills.

Mr. Grasso and his wife, Rosemary, who died last month, worked the night shift at the pub.

"There was never a fight," he boasted yesterday. "Sometimes there were five different gangs in there at the same time, and no fights. Some of them went to her funeral last month."

The pub sponsored championship flag football teams boasting former high school, college and even NFL players, including Tom Flynn, who played at Penn Hills High School and the University of Pittsburgh, and professionally with the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. Hippo's flag football team won the U.S. Flag and Touch League national championship in 1985.

Mr. Grasso and his wife also hosted dance contests.

Three years ago, another owner took over the bar, but it closed last fall, he said. Mr. Grasso retained ownership.

Recently he applied for a liquor license. He had plans to reopen Hippo's.

"That's my retirement that went up in smoke," he said. "That's my whole life. I'm gonna miss it."