MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — Fire on Sunday ruined more than a dozen businesses at Fountain Court Shopping Plaza near Bartonsville in Monroe County.
Nothing remains of the businesses that used to be in the main building.
Township officials say the fire reignited two more times overnight.
Rubble still smoldered on Monday as excavators worked to tear down the building. The machines were brought in to move around debris where the parking garage used to be, to get to hotspots that keep flaring.
"We call this a hybrid building—partially steel, partially a stick building. So it sits under the insulation, and it just lights back up after it sits for long enough," said Jerrod Belvin, Pocono Township director of emergency services.
The first started Sunday just after 7:30 a.m.
Officials thought they had it under control just before it went up in flames again, destroying more than a dozen businesses in the main building.
"There was nothing we could do at that point," Belvin said. "It literally traveled right up the walls, and you can see the smoke coming out. There were no flames; it was just very thick smoke. So you know what that means, and eventually, you started to see it was a red tin roof, then you started seeing the roof change its color, and you knew at that time that it would have been a safety concern."
Many people stopped by to look at the damage. Dee Raneri and her coworker Amanda Clarke were just some of them. They stopped by to see what was left of a place where they not only visited but used to work.
The woman both work for Northampton Community College, and the community education division used to be in the plaza.
"We've been out of it for a while. But my husband and I usually go to the Vida Bowls place with my kids. My kids really like it. We knew the owners. We feel horrible for him," Clarke said.
"Obviously, there's nothing left. It's so surreal," Raneri said.
Officials tell Newswatch 16 that two structures not attached to the main building don't have any smoke or water damage, but it will be some time before they reopen because the buildings don't have electricity.
Officials say the fire started on the bottom floor near the Escape Room.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but there's so much damage they may never determine an exact cause.
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