Pocono News Section

4 Firefighters Hurt in Carbondale Arson

4 Firefighters Hurt in Carbondale Arson - Monday, April 28, 2008 at 5:15PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Monday, Apr 28, 2008 @ 05:15pm EST
CARBONDALE, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Four firefighters are recovering from injuries after battling a blaze at an apartment building in Carbondale. That fire has now been ruled a case of arson.

Bright orange flames filled the night sky in Carbondale early Monday morning. A vacant apartment building on Washington Street was destroyed just after 4:00 A. M. Neighbor George Ippolito said, "The flames were 20, 30, 40 foot in the air and I could see there's a short distance between the two houses and I really thought our house was going to go up."

Ippolito lives right next to the apartment building that burned. His home suffered smoke, water and fire damage. "When we came outside, I looked up and I could actually see the shingles on our roof starting to smoke and luckily the fire department got here quick," he said.

A State Police Fire Marshal was called to the scene late Monday morning. Investigators say the building had no utilities and was empty at the time it burned and someone set it on purpose.

Fire officials say it could have been a lot worse. Carbondale Fire Tom Brennan said, “The fact of the matter is, if there wasn't a quick response here, we could have lost more structures here. The guys and girls did a fantastic job."

As for the building itself, neighbors want it torn down. They say it's been the scene of past fires and is a frequent hang-out for kids. Steve Jiacobbe said, "This house burned two years ago. It’s been a nuisance. I know on the 30th, they were going for a meeting to have it torn down."