Pa. Firefighters Make Two Trips After Blaze Rekindles
Source The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
City firefighters made two trips to a Hill Section apartment building between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning after a late-night blaze rekindled hours later.
Scranton Fire Chief Tom Davis said the initial fire began in a second-floor bedroom in the multiunit building at Mulberry Street and Kellum Court -- between North Webster and Taylor avenues -- just before midnight.
Flames were shooting through the building's roof when firefighters arrived, Chief Davis said. The main part of the fire was extinguished after about an hour, he said, leaving only hot spots and small remnant fires in the building, he said.
"There was a lot of nooks and crannies in that building," Chief Davis said. "It really took off."
Twelve residents of the building were displaced by the two-alarm fire, said Brian Wrightson, emergency services director of the Red Cross of Lackawanna County.
Some of those victims were provided shelter by the Red Cross while others decided to stay with relatives, Mr. Wrightson said, but they were all provided with food and clothing by the agency.
Chief Davis said one city firefighter suffered a sprained ankle while fighting the blaze, but all of the residents left the building unharmed.
About six hours after crews extinguished the bulk of the blaze, city firefighters returned to the building at about 7 a.m. to douse a smaller fire that had cropped up in the second floor.
Chief Davis said that fire was handled quickly and had started with a smoldering hot spot from the initial fire.
A city fire inspector began an investigation Wednesday, Chief Davis said, but had not yet determined a cause.
Copyright 2012 - The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
