Pittsburgh pizzeria sues Winghart’s owners over Market Square fire
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The owner of a Market Square restaurant is accusing the previous owners of its neighbor, Winghart’s, of failing to call for help for 45 minutes when a fire broke out there last fall.
Rudolph Sergio Muto, who owns La Gondola Pizzeria & Restaurant, filed a lawsuit in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court late Thursday, alleging claims of negligence and nuisance.
It names as defendants Prasad Margabandhu; Sivram Bandhu; PGH Real Estate Company LLC; Winghart Burgers Mkt. Inc; and Bandhu Bros. Inc.
A message left for an attorney that represents the Bandhu Brothers was not returned. The brothers could not be reached for comment.
According to the complaint, the fire began on the third or fourth floor of Winghart’s about 11 am. on Nov. 21.
Employees and customers smelled smoke that morning, the lawsuit said, and contacted Sivram Bandhu, one of the owners.
The complaint contends that Bandhu told the employees not to call the fire department and instead told them he would be at the restaurant shortly.
Bandhu arrived 15 minutes later, and then waited another 35 minutes before calling emergency services at 11:50 a.m., the lawsuit said.
When the Pittsburgh fire department arrived four minutes later, it continued, it was a four-alarm fire.
Firefighters were on scene until 5 p.m., and one was injured fighting the blaze.
Officials said at the time that the Winghart’s building sustained heavy smoke and fire damage.
Muto, who was interviewed by the Tribune-Review the day of the fire, said he was working and didn’t know about the blaze until the police came in and ordered him out of the building. He said he’d been in that location for 41 years.
Sergio Muto owns La Gondola Pizza next to Winghart’s. pic.twitter.com/0StQsDxtPE
— Tom Davidson (@TribDavidson) November 21, 2019
The lawsuit contends that the fire, which caused extensive damage to Winghart’s and La Gondola, started in Winghart’s kitchen exhaust system.
Had the fire department been called immediately, the complaint said, “damages to Winghart’s would have been mitigated, and damages to the adjacent property would have been avoided all together.”
The damage to La Gondola required it to close and lose income, the lawsuit said.
Winghart’s, which sustained about $50,000 in damage, closed.
The Bandhu Brothers the last remaining Winghart’s Burger & Whiskey Bar on the South Side in February.