Sarris cleanup will take about a month
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Sarris Candies' landmark retail candy store in Canonsburg will remain closed for about a month after last week's fire, but candy orders and deliveries to outside sellers continue uninterrupted.
"It will take 30 days to clean the store and have our clearance from the FDA," said Athena Sarris Simms, who, like most in administration there, said she didn't have a job title but did "a little bit of everything."
Clearance from the Food and Drug Administration is required because the company manufactures food.
The fire started around 7 a.m. Friday in a wrapping and packaging area above the ice cream parlor, whose reopening date remains uncertain. Although actual fire damage was largely confined to the second floor, there was water damage below. The company has prioritized the candy store, rather than the adjoining ice cream parlor, for reopening first, Ms. Simms said.
Neither the cause nor the dollar amount of damage has been determined, but inspectors in search of both were on site Monday, she said. While production can't resume until the FDA gives clearance, Valentine and Easter candy already had been stocked at a warehouse and was unaffected by the blaze.
"That's business as usual," Ms. Simms said.
First Published February 7, 2012 12:09 am
