Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — City firefighters quickly extinguished a blaze that forced the evacuation of nearly 50 tenants from an apartment building at Sherman Hills on Tuesday.
Firefighters responded to Building 324 on Parkview Circle at about 11 a.m. for a fire inside a second floor apartment.
City Fire Chief Jay Delaney said the apartment building has 47 tenants and those that were home managed to escape the building, some carrying pets and clothing. Once the fire was extinguished, several tenants were escorted inside to remove belongings.
Firefighters set up an aerial ladder truck to reach the roof while other firefighters fought the blaze with an interior attack.
The fire was knocked down about 10 minutes after the first responding firefighters arrived at the scene.
“The call came in as a fire alarm and as firefighters were responding, the call came in as heavy smoke,” Delaney said. “Once our initial attack team got in, they found heavy smoke and heavy fire and did quick work to extinguish the fire.”
A cause of the fire is under investigation.
There were no reported injuries.
Delaney said there are 30 apartments in Building 324.
The fire was contained to the affected apartment. Adjacent apartments and apartments on the first floor sustained heavy smoke and water damage, Delaney said.
Tenants were taken to the apartment complex’s high rise community room where they were assisted by management of Sherman Hills and the American Red Cross of the Wyoming Valley.
Delaney said the city’s code enforcement office inspected the building to determine which apartments could be re-occupied.
Kingston/Forty Fort firefighters responded as the Rapid Intervention Team. Plains Ambulance also responded to the scene.