SCOTT TOWNSHIP – Volunteer Firefighters in one part of Lackawanna County were busy as two calls came in at about the same time – one at a garage and less than 30 minutes later a home a few miles away.
Flashing lights filled the street here along Rushbrook Road near Jermyn as smoke and flames poured from this home in Scott Township. Neighbor Brad Green lives just down the road and saw the fire first.
"I yelled for my wife to call 911, and I came up because I didn`t know if he was home the resident here and I pounded on the door and yelled his name but luckily he wasn`t home," said Brad Green.
Green says fire crews were here within minutes, but says without his phone call, he wonders just how much further this fire could have spread.
"Nobody sees anything, I was just lucky I came home or we wouldn`t have known about the fire until we smelled it,” said Green.
But as flames were shooting from that home along Rushbrook Road, Fire Crews were on the other side of the Township trying to contain this garage fire, creating a tough situation for first responders.
Fire Chief Theodore Tellip Jr. was at that other fire on Shield Road and says thanks to his mutual aid companies, both fires were fought simultaneously. Tellip says these types of situations are ones they practice for, but rarely encounter.
“We depend on each other so much. Our municipality here, Scott Township is very fortunate to have the surrounding support of the communities we have,” said Chief Tellip.
No one was hurt at this garage fire, and the homeowner wasn’t home here when flames broke out either.
Neighbors in this part of Lackawanna County say they’ll be there as their friend works to pick up the pieces.
"Our neighbor here, we hope he plans on rebuilding and coming back,” said Green.
Fire Marshalls have ruled these fires in Scott Township accidental, both electrical.