Smoke from a phone book left on a lit stove burner wafted into a vacant West Hazleton duplex Saturday night.
An empty five-gallon gas can and a tub full of kerosene was left in the bathroom of one side of the duplex. Police said they found the home harvested for copper during a separate incident that happened months prior to the attempted arson.
Borough police said the building at 204-206 E. Broad St., was staged for an arson fire and police are searching for the person responsible.
Police said an alert neighbor called officers sometime after 10 p.m. when they heard banging inside of the known vacant home, thinking the sounds were suspicious.
Police arrived to find both back doors on the home forced open and two rear windows smashed. Hazleton police and West Hazleton police entered the home through the 206 side and made their way to the common basement, where they found light smoke. As officers continued to walk into the 204 side of the home and ascended those basement stairs they said the smoke was heavier and burned their eyes.
While they continued to investigate they called West Hazleton firefighters to handle the smoke and found the building was being staged for arson.
Police said they were attempting to reach the owner. Anyone with information on this incident that could aide the police investigation is asked to contact police by dialing 911.
Fire Chief Dennis Ganc said crews found light smoke in the home on all three floors. The source of the smoke, he said, was the smoldering book on the stove and it was extinguished by a water can. Ganc said there was no need for hoses to extinguish it. The building was ventilated to remove the smoke from the home, he said.
Ganc said residents should contact 911 when they notice suspicious activity, just as the neighbor to 204-206 E. Broad did, it light of copper thefts being on the rise in vacant homes and because the call could have prevented a more serious fire from taking place.
The building, which has a "for sale" sign on it, sits next to a vehicle repair garage at the corner of East Broad and South Third streets. Signs on the window of the home state only authorized people can enter and warns that anti freeze is in the water pipes.
Copyright 2012 - Standard-Speaker, Hazleton, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
