• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

MILWAUKEE - If whoever burned the iconic "Pizza Man" restaurant down last week thought they did the same to this community's generosity, they failed.

"Wow," said Deanna Amidzich, Pizza Man owner. "People started dropping stuff off like you wouldn't believe."

Just a few blocks from the rubble that used to be the Pizza Man building, people donated rows of food and clothing to the folks at the Milwaukee Central Seventh Day Adventist Church.

The church will then donate the items to people who lost their homes and jobs in the blaze that investigators now call arson.

"I really don't understand how anyone could do that to so many people with I'm guessing 100 people who either lost their home or job. That's devastating especially in today's economy," said volunteer Nicole Henderson.

Officials say "Moon" the arson dog sniffed out accelerants that were used to ignite the fire.

Along with Pizza Man, the blaze destroyed several apartments and three other businesses.

Investigators think the fire started in one of those businesses, The Black and White Cafe but they won't say if they have a suspect in mind.

TODAY'S TMJ4 tried to contact the cafe's owner the last few days but got no response.

"You woke up to see that you were completely unemployed for no reason," said Joe Wagenecht.

Wagenecht--who worked at Pizza Man--is now left to pick up the pieces, hoping, as do others, police can serve up their own dish of justice.

"We've got to catch whoever did this because this was a horrific crime," said Amidzich.

If you have information about the fire, call the Wisconsin Arson Hotline at 1-800-362-3005. If the information leads to an arrest, it could lead you to a $10,000 reward.

And organizers will host another fundraiser next week, according to Amidzich.

You can drop off non-perishable food or clothing at the Milwaukee Central Seventh Day Adventist Church on 2229 N. Terrace Avenue between 9:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 6.