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By MITCH MORRISON; Times Leader Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 11, 1992     Page: 3A QUICK WORDS: YMCA FIRE

WILKES-BARRE — Body builders who sculpt their muscles at the YMCA’s
Nautilus room, then bask in the sauna in the men’s fitness center, will have
to tone down for awhile.
   
Damage from an electrical fire in the basement Sunday morning continues to
shut down the two rooms. The rest of the six-story building, including the
basketball court, barbershop and apartments has reopened, said YMCA Director
Bernard Hargadon.
    “We had no electrical circuitry on the second floor,” he said Tuesday. “We
had to replace all the wiring from the second floor to the men’s fitness
center and nautilus room.”
   
Cleaning crews worked from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday to clean up
debris and smoke damage, while electricians rewired from the basement through
the second floor.
   
Damage costs still are being estimated, but Hargadon said the final figure
will run in the thousands of dollars.
   
Firefighters poured through the building after the first alarm blared about
11:30 a.m. Sunday.
   
Maintenance worker Richard Vanchure, sniffed a foul odor in the basement
and, armed with a fire extinguisher, put out a small fire near a wire that had
shorted out.
   
Electrical and minor smoke damage forced the evacuation of 25 people, 17 of
whom were placed at the Imperial Motor Inn by the American Red Cross emergency
shelter unit, Hargadon said. The rest stayed with families or friends.
   
Typically open from 1-6 p.m. Sunday, The YMCA was shut down for the entire
day. By Tuesday, some of the health facilities, including the swimming pool,
had reopened.
   
TRIMMED HERE
   
Hargadon hopes to reopen the men’s fitness center and nautilus rooms by
week’s end.
   
“We have a lot of unhappy people … who have their belongings in the men’s
fitness center,” Hargadon said.