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Working To Rebuild Main Street In Stroudsburg

STROUDSBURG — Main Street in downtown Stroudsburg is busy rebuilding. A string of fires over the past two months have put several people out of their home...
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STROUDSBURG -- Main Street in downtown Stroudsburg is busy rebuilding.

A string of fires over the past two months have put several people out of their homes and businesses, and now they're fighting to come back.

It's been a rough couple of months for many people who live and work along Main Street in Stroudsburg.

Four fires have broken out on this street alone since July.

Now Main Street is fighting to return bigger and better than ever.

Tearing up the floor, piece by piece and tossing it into dumpsters here along Main Street in Stroudsburg, crews have been busy working inside Pocono Sew & Vac to dry up and clean up what a fire left behind earlier this month.

"It was a mess, definitely it was a mess. The fire started on the top floor and when firefighters got here and they doused all the water, all the water came through, straight through," said Servpro manager Manuel Mihecha.

Pocono Sew & Vac set up shop temporarily just across the street and is busy running the business here. Management hopes to come back to the old location in just a few months bigger and better.

"It's tough to cope with a fire, you know? So we're here at a temporary location, we haven't laid anyone off," said manager Fred Bombicca. "We don't plan to leave downtown. We love the downtown."

In early July, Kitchen Chemistry burned on Main Street, as well. They, too, are working to come back by November. They opened up a small shop called Pocono Soap in the meantime.

Just a couple of blocks down Main Street some other businesses put out by a fire are still drying out. Dehumidifier pipe are still dripping but they're already back to work.

"Got all set up with another computer and we were up and running by 12 o'clock noon on Friday," said Angie Fuhrer of A&M Industrial.

A&M Industrial inside the Holland Thread Mill building suffered water damage less than a week ago when an apartment kitchen fire set off the sprinkler system, water logging this business and another office.

"The ceiling has to be done, the flooring has to be redone, and also all the walls have to be repainted. They are working on the upstairs apartment now, so hopefully we'll be next," Fuhrer said.

Crews say they're working to keep up and rip up as much as they can to make way for new beginnings.

"As hard as we can so that everybody can just come back and everything can be normal for them."

Both Pocono Sew & Vac and Kitchen Chemistry have been able to keep doing some business while they are cleaning up from these fires.

Both are anxious to get back to business as usual as soon as possible.

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