Pocono News Section

Investigators Search for Fire's Cause in Greenfield Township

Investigators Search for Fire's Cause in Greenfield Township - Friday, April 30, 2010 at 04:08AM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Friday April 30 2010
0/ 5 rating

GREENFIELD TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY - Fire investigators are still looking for the exact cause of a fire Thursday night in Lackawanna County.

The fire destroyed a mobile home in Greenfield Township. A state police fire marshal has joined the investigation. He has not yet determined the cause or said if the blaze appears suspicious.

Neighbors say they're worried though because recently they've seen suspicious activity near the mobile home that burned.

Neighbor William Lee was woken-up by the fast moving fire on Willard Street.

"My daughter came running into the bedroom, saying "get up dad" really quick. She was saying, the trailer in the back is on fire so we came running out and by that time, it was shooting about 60 feet in the air," Lee said.

Amanda Smith's father also lives right next to the mobile home that burned. She came to the scene Friday after hearing about the fire while out at dinner.

"It came across the scanner and it was just a big shock," Smith said. "I mean, my dad lives, it's his backyard."

Neighbors say they were concerned about a possible fire at the mobile home. They say it has been empty for the most part for the last year, but within just the last few weeks, they've seen an unidentified man starting small fires in brush near the home.

"We knew something was gonna happen," neighbor Dawn Lee said. "It's finally over. It's finally over. We don't have to worry about him no more."

"You'd go to bed at night and everytime you'd smell smoke or something, you had to get up and sure enough he'd be over there burning and then he'd take off and the fire would still be going and he'd take off," William Lee said.

No one was seriously hurt in the blaze. Neighbors say firefighters had a tough time getting to the scene because there was a car accident nearby.

"There was an accident up the road, so they were having trouble getting here and the trailer must have went up in five minutes. It was really fast," Dawn Lee said.