Restaurant ruins remain
A look at Trainer’s Inn, which remains uncleaned over four months after fire destroyed the restaurant in Franklin Township.
Holes can be seen in the roof of the former Trainer’s Inn restaurant months after it was ravaged by fire. TERRY AHNER/TIMES NEWS
Piles of rubble remain at the site of a Franklin Township restaurant several months after it was ravaged by fire.
Trainer’s Inn, at 845 Interchange Road, was destroyed by fire in March, yet over four months later, the site remains littered with debris from the wreckage.
Township secretary Brenda Neeb said the holdup is an ownership dispute concerning insurance purposes.
Township fire Chief Lynn Diehl, also contacted earlier this week, said that people are getting restless, especially those at the Hampton Inn located next to the one-time booming attraction.
“It’s an eyesore,” Diehl said.
The current owner of Trainer’s Inn is Richard E. & Priscilla F. Denithorne, according to the Carbon County Recorder of Deeds Office.
Priscilla deferred comments to her attorney, who did not return a reporter’s call as of press time.
Diehl said the fire started in the basement, and added that a fire marshal has since listed the cause as undetermined.
The restaurant had been closed for about a year at the time of the fire, but Diehl said a relative of the property owner was on site and had lit a fire in the fireplace.
When the first crews got on scene, he added, flames had not intensified yet, however smoke was pouring out of the basement.
Around 10 to 12 companies responded to the fire and, according to Diehl, all water was hauled in from off site.
