An expert who specializes in identifying failures in electrical systems said a lack of proper maintenance could have caused the 1998 fire that destroyed more than a dozen businesses in the Hermitage Square Plaza.

Three former tenants of the plaza are suing its owner, Hermitage Development Corp., claiming the company was liable for the electrical system that they said caused the fire.

The company's attorney, Peter Acker of Hermitage, has presented evidence that individual tenants were responsible for their own wiring and electrical systems.

"Failure to maintain the electrical system contributed to the fire," said Mark Podany, the expert witness called by plaintiff's attorney James Stranahan. "In fact, it is the likely cause of the fire, as no other likely causes have been found," Podany said. The civil trial continued in the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas Monday.

Stranahan is representing three former tenants: Patrick Engrao, who operated an insurance agency; Stephen Moses, who had his dental practice there; and Howard J. Nagle, who had a dental laboratory.

The fire broke out against the south wall of a bridal shop in the plaza on April 6, 1998. Flames spread to other businesses in the plaza, eventually causing some $5 million to $6 million in damage and destroying or damaging 15 businesses.

Podany is a forensic engineer and president of PGM Diversified Industries, an engineering consulting firm that, among other services, tries to determine faults in products and electrical systems.

Podany showed the jury pictures of beaded copper from pipes, which he said was evidence of extremely high temperatures in the fire. In order for the copper pipes to have melted and dropped to the floor in beads, he said, temperatures would have had to have reached nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Podany said he believed the fire was caused by problems in the electrical system. He pointed to a badly damaged breaker panel that was removed from the fire as evidence.

"The top right column and main breaker show significant thermal damage," he said.

Since the heavy damage was localized to those areas of the panel, he said, and was not evenly distributed over the whole panel, that signified to him that the damage was heaviest in that area.

"That doesn't mean it was the ignition source," he said, "But it can't be explained by just exposure to the fire."

He testified it meant there were underlying problems.

Acker has asked fire investigators called to testify in the trial if they were able to exclude arson as the possible cause of the fire.

Robert Goeltz, Hermitage fire chief and fire marshal, wrote in his official report that the cause of the fire was "undetermined, probably electrical," and backed his report up in court Monday.

Goeltz said in testimony he had found indicators of an electrically-sparked fire; under cross examination, however, he admitted that the accellerant-sniffing dog brought in from Allegheny County might have missed evidence of some fuels, like butane or lighter fluid. Also, he said, a long-burning fire or heavy amounts of water might have destroyed residue from certain accelerants.

The fire burned for about 12 hours. At least 50 firefighters used 800,000 gallons of water to battle the blaze.

Testimony is expected to conclude today, with jurors getting the case for deliberations as early as the lunch hour.

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Amanda Smith-Teutsch at: ateutsch@sharonherald.com

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