Pocono News Section

Firefighters Battle Large Blaze in Downtown Scranton

Firefighters Battle Large Blaze in Downtown Scranton - Friday, January 25, 2008 at 8:26PM EST

Reported by: Mike Trim
Friday, Jan 25, 2008 @08:26pm EST

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY- Fire crews were on the scene of a huge, smoky downtown Scranton fire much of Friday.

It started around 8:30 Friday morning at 317 Linden Street in the city. Heavy smoke and flames could be seen coming from the roof of the former industrial laundry building. It's the building behind Scanlan's Restaurant and St. Peter's Cathedral.

Smoke from the fire could be seen for miles. Building owner Jerry Joyce says he knew a contractor's welding torch likely started the fire before he arrived to the scene. "One of the torches probably sparked, hit the roof and the rest is history. Took fire, and it's now going in a northerly direction out toward Mulberry Street, it's a big roof so a lot of billowing smoke," he said.

Fire crews spent the morning fighting flames through the smoke. They sprayed down flames and cut through walls to get inside.

Joyce says he had contractors working in the back part of the building. He was remodeling and hoped to open apartments here before Friday's fire.

Fire crews worked to stop flames before they spread to St. Peter’s Cathedral on one side of the building and a civil war museum on the other.

Scranton Fire Chief Tom Davis says the old materials used to make the building made it hard to fight the flames. "It's so hard to get to the scene of the fire. The fire is between the roof and the ceiling and it's just impossible to get at. So what we're doing is waiting for it to burn through," he said.

And fire crews let it burn, but, by late afternoon, the smoke cleared, and the fire was out.

Luckily two businesses in the same building, The Crazy Pineapple and P.J. Scanlons, were not damaged thanks to a fire wall that kept the blaze at bay.