Pa. smokehouse fire 'best-smelling in long time'

[February 16, 2012]  NEW CASTLE, Pa. (AP) -- Firefighters in Pennsylvania have managed to save 200 pounds of Polish sausage from what they're calling the best-smelling fire they've doused in years.

The New Castle News reports that firefighters responded about 11:30 a.m. Monday when a 20-by-20-foot smokehouse caught fire in the yard of Cash Koszela (koh-ZEL'-uh). He's a retired meat cutter who's been smoking his own sausage for about 30 years.

Firefighters say some grease caught fire when the smokehouse got too hot -- about 300 degrees.

Koszela says it will cost about $3,000 to replace the smokehouse. It's actually a tin-lined walk-in cooler fed by smoke piped in from a fire pit.

Assistant Fire Chief David Joseph says, "This is definitely the best-smelling fire we've seen in a long time."

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Information from: New Castle News, http://www.ncnewsonline.com/

[Associated Press]

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