Borough's La Rosa pizzeria lost in blaze BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer METUCHEN - Amid-morning blaze destroyed La Rosa Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant on Middlesex Avenue last week, which has been a staple in the borough for 30 years. "It was just a bad fire," said Metuchen Fire Chief Robert Donnan. Over 100 firefighters from area fire departments including Edison, New Brunswick, North Stelton, Perth Amboy two companies from Piscataway, South Plainfield, and numerous departments from Woodbridge Township were on the scene to battle the blaze, which started sometime before 9 a.m. Dec. 23. "Someone driving by noticed the fire and told the person who was getting ready to sell Christmas trees next door [at Boro Ace Hardware]," said Donnan. "We arrived on scene at 8:59 a.m. The fire was advanced and had been burning for some time." The fire destroyed the pizzeria; however, firefighters were able to save the Boro Ace Hardware store, which is adjacent and attached to the pizzeria. "Our biggest concern was the hazardous items such as the paint thinners in the hardware store," said Donnan. "The items were on the other side of the store, and we were able to stop the fire before it reached those items." The fire destroyed some of the storage areas in the hardware store, but did not damage the retail area, Donnan said. "We had control of the fire in an hour and a half and were on scene until 3 p.m.," said Donnan. "After further investigation, the fire began in the front area, but it couldn't be determined where the fire specifically started." Three Metuchen firefighters suffered minor injuries - bruised ribs, asthma attack from smoke inhalation, and a strained neck muscle. "One was treated on scene and released and two were transported to John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison and released later that day," said Donnan. A lso on scene to assist with the fire were Middlesex County HAZMAT, a Mercy 9 unit from John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, and Metuchen and Edison first aid squads. La Rosa Pizzeria has been at 655 Middlesex Ave. since December 1977. Owner Olympia Keane's father, Luigi Gerardi, had bought it from two Italian brothers. Keane, who has owned the restaurant with her cousin since her father died, rents out the building where her pizzeria is from Steven Epstein, who owns Boro Ace Hardware next door. In an interview with the Edison Metuchen Sentinel in June 2006, Keane, whose husband is Metuchen Police Chief James Keane, said the pizzeria was family run. "My sister, Filomena Inghilterra, and I run the place … from one generation to another, the family helps out," she said. "My husband helps out along with our three children Jimmy, Gina and Michael." Keane's parents came over to the United States from Naples, Italy, in 1954 and settled in New York. "My father picked up making pizzas in Brooklyn," she said. "Then they moved to New Jersey and in 1960 opened up Central Pizzeria in Somerville, which they owned for 16 years." In 1977, Gerardi bought La Rosa Pizzeria. The future of the pizzeria has been up in the air since Developer Renaissance Properties' plans to spend $70 million to develop the 5.85-acre site, which includes the pizzeria. La Rosa's would be unable to operate for 12 to 18 months during construction. The pizzeria was currently in the seventh year of a 10-year lease with Epstein; however, Epstein said at a recent Planning Board meeting that the lease terms allow for the lease to be broken as a result of "rebuilding or relocating." Keane said at the same Planning Board meeting that she would seek to relocate the pizzeria. "We don't believe we will pursue it anymore, but we do want to stay in Metuchen," she said. "We were hoping to stay in business without being closed at all."