A fire in a blackout-darkened Allentown neighborhood on Wednesday night gutted the second floor of a day-care center and chased two adults and three children outside.
No one was hurt.
The fire started about 6:25 p.m. at the Tiburcio Family Day-Care, a rowhouse at 314 Ridge Ave., between Chew and Gordon streets.
"I was on the first floor of my house," said Eddie Tiburcio, owner of the day care. "One of my grandchildren said, 'Abuelo [grandfather], there's a fire in the house.' "
Flames engulfed a second-floor bedroom and bathroom at the house, which had been closed as a day care Tuesday and Wednesday because of the power outage related to Hurricane Sandy.
Only Tiburcio, his son Luis and his three grandchildren were in the house when the blaze began.
"I used the fire extinguisher, but it couldn't hold it," Tiburcio said. "The fire was too big already."
He said he did not know what caused the fire. The heater was off, he said, and he kept candles for the power outage on the first floor only, away from his grandchildren.
"I don't trust children with candles," he said.
Allentown firefighters arrived at the house shortly after the fire was reported, he said. The fire was brought under control quickly, but the second floor was badly damaged by the flames.
The first floor had water damage and the third floor had smoke damage. Firefighters were at the scene more than an hour to check for hot spots and investigate the cause.
A contractor was called to board up 14 windows of the damaged building.
Copyright 2012 - The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
