STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Flames could be seen pouring out of what was once a garage at the former Penn Hills Resort near Stroudsburg on Sunday night. The fire spread to an old restaurant.
The place in Stroud Township went up in flames again, just before midnight on Sunday.
"I know it's bad. Every time we go by, something else is burned down. Police, you know, there's not enough police to go and chase after them all," said Robert Wood, Price Township.
The resort in Monroe County closed 12 years ago, and firefighters have been called there many times since.
Two years ago, a couple from New York State bought the resort. Township officials say they haven't done anything to better it since.
"We recently had a court approval for the township now to go in and do demolition work since the owner, after taking the township to court twice, the township has prevailed. They have not done any cleanup, and we asked the court to give us the approval to go in and now do the demolition work ourselves," said Stroud Township Manager Daryl Eppley.
The big reason residents and township officials are so frustrated is that you can still see the remains of four different fires at this resort.
Eppley says the next step is to assess how much it will cost to clean up the property. The plan is to apply for grants to help offset some of what will be owed.
"The owner made a big mistake. They attempted to do due diligence after they bought the property, but the township is now authorized by the court to lien our cost towards the property. We want to make sure whatever cost we incur up there is not going to exceed the value of the property; that's the other thing we have to be careful about. So you'll see some activity up there shortly," said Eppley.
Newswatch 16 tried to contact the property owners, but we were unable to get in touch with them.
All the previous fires, including this one, are considered suspicious.
A fire marshal is investigating the cause of this latest fire.