LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — A fire at an apartment home on the 1000 block of West Main Avenue in Newport Township spread to the three buildings closest to it. It started just after 1 p.m. Saturday.
Chief Jason Kowalski with the Newport Township Fire Department says it took around twelve hours to fully put out, and the extremely cold weather Saturday made responders' jobs that much harder.
"The hydrants were frozen, there's a hydrant a couple hundred feet away from here, and we had a hard time getting it open and getting the water supply just because of the cold," said Kowalski.
Pennsylvania American Water Company workers were on scene early Sunday morning checking and winterizing the fire hydrants.
"Everything was icing up for them. It's just a tragedy for the township at this point," said Hedy Swales.
Swales and her husband own one of the buildings damaged from the fire.
"The water temperatures here weren't good for the firemen to work with, and they did the best they can," said Swales.
Kowalsky says in addition to the cold weather, the building, which collapsed, formed pockets with fires burning inside.
"At that point, we had to call in a demolition company to rip the building down so we could put out the spots," Kowalski said.
The fire chief says because of the power lines right in front of the building, officials had to shut off the power for several hours on Saturday's freezing cold day.
"Just for safety perspective, the power was cut," said Kowalski.
Kowalski says for many neighbors, the power was off for about ten hours.
"And of course, it was the worst day to do that, but we kind of had no choice," he said.
"I'm kind of prepared in the sense, but a lot of people don't have woodstoves or another source of heating," neighbor, Stephen Morrissey, said. "And I kind of felt bad for them because a lot of our houses are fueled by oil, and we need the electric on for the generators and everything like that."
With the four buildings damaged, eleven people were displaced, but officials say there were no injuries.
"I think God was watching over all of them. And I am so glad all of them made it out safely. Materials can be replaced. Lives cannot," said Hedy Swales.
A fire marshal listed the official cause as undetermined.
But Chief Kowalski wants to leave folks with this:
"I guess another public service announcement, just being careful with space heaters," he said. "It's cold, just be careful with that."
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