Nov. 13--MOCANAQUA -- A fire ravaged a Mocanaqua home Monday afternoon, just a month after a fire ruled as an arson burned the one next door to the ground.
Nobody was injured in Monday's blaze that ripped through a three-story triple-unit residence on Main Street, said Mocanaqua Fire Chief Stephen McDaniels. Although officials have not determined a cause, McDaniels said the fire was suspicious. The house was vacant and did not have electricity, McDaniels said, and a door to the basement -- where the fire likely began, he said -- might have been open. A fire marshal from the state police will investigate today.
Colleen Hartley arrived at the scene and ran toward the thick clouds of dark smoke and the nearly 50 volunteer firefighters from Mocanaqua, Berwick, Shickshinny and other surrounding towns trying to put it out. Hartley and her husband, George, own the home that burned Monday and the adjacent residence torched in October.
The couple has owned the rental houses, both badly damaged during the 2011 flood, for about 12 years. She said the last remaining tenant from the triple-unit was evicted in September, and the inside was empty and contained no signs of anyone living there when she last checked in about three weeks ago.
She could only describe the feeling of having two of her properties destroyed in a such a short time as a "nightmare."
"I must have bad luck or something," George Hartley said. "I'm not buying anything ever again."
A neighbor reported the fire around 2 p.m. McDaniels said flames emitted from all three stories when firefighters arrived.
McDaniels said the fire likely spread from the basement of the middle unit and engulfed the entire building, spitting smoke and flames through the attic. Firefighters battled the blaze from the extension of a ladder truck, using power saws to cut holes through the roof and blasting the building with a powerful stream of water that sent debris flying through the air.
Several firefighters climbed down a ladder into the attic, where they struggled to extinguish the flames, McDaniels said. A loud blow from an engine's horn ordered them to evacuate as conditions inside deteriorated.
By about 4 p.m., the fire appeared to be under control. Although the building still stood, McDaniels said the fire most likely destroyed it.
McDaniels happens to live directly next door and said he felt especially lucky the fire didn't spread.
"It's crazy," McDaniels said. "It hits a little too close to home."
On Oct. 6, a fire destroyed the house on the other side of the building. An officer from the state police at Wyoming said Trooper Karri Dodson, who also works as fire marshal, initially ruled the fire an arson. However, the investigation is still ongoing and that determination is subject to change.
Dodson was not available for comment on Monday.
McDaniels recommended that residents "keep an close eye" on the neighborhood for suspicious activity.
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Copyright 2012 - The Citizens' Voice, Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
