WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Eight people are now without a place to live after a fire heavily damaged a building with three apartments in the city of Wilkes-Barre.
Ado Ribera owns the Horton Street property and also lives there. He was home Wednesday night when the fire started.
"I was watching TV in the living room when I heard her yelling, 'Fire, fire' in Spanish. So, I said, 'What is going on?' And I see she is outside, and there is a fire, so I grab a fire extinguisher; I have a few. I grabbed one, but when I tried to get inside, I couldn't because the smoke was going through my nose, and I almost suffocated," Ribera recalled.
Fire crews were called back to the scene Thursday just after 11 a.m.
The Wilkes-Barre assistant fire chief tells Newswatch 16 that smoke started coming out from inside the wall in one of the units. The Red Cross is helping the people forced from their homes, but they still are left to figure out what is next.
"I don't know where I'll go now," said resident Torivio Quinones."I have two sons over there, so I slept with my sons, but I don't know where I will go. I'll need a new place or a room."
People who once lived in the building say they are thankful everyone who was home made it out safely.
"God help me, I have my church, that's a start," Quinones said."God help the people, prayers to the other people, I do that all the time."
A city fire inspector is investigating the cause.