HAZLETON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Crews were at the scene of an abandoned church fire in Hazleton Saturday night.
Hazleton City Fire Department Deputy Chief Shawn Jones says that they were called around 9:30 p.m. for a report of a structure fire on the 100 block of West Green Street that was quickly bumped up to a third alarm.
Jones says the building was home to an old church, but has been abandoned for years
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Deputy Chief Jones says that crews found fire coming from the third floor area of the building.
The building changed ownership a couple of time, and was being looked at to remodel, according to Jones.
There has not been electricity in the building for years, according to Jones, so he said the fire was definitely not accidental.
The fact that the firefighters could not go into the building because of hazardous conditions including rotted out floor, and only battling the fire using aerial devices and from the exterior made the fire difficult to contain, according to Jones
The building was supposedly built in 1898, according to a plaque out front of the building.
There were no injuries, and a Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal is handling the investigation into the cause of the fire.
On Facebook, the Hazleton Area Public Library released the following statement after the fire:
We’re incredibly grateful to the local fire departments for their swift and professional response to last night’s fire at the church next door. Thanks to their quick action, we’re relieved to share that the fire did not extend to the library.However, out of caution for our staff and community, the main library will be closed tomorrow (7/28) as we address residual smoke inside the building. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.Branch libraries will remain open as usual. Thank you for your understanding and continued support!
Hazleton Area Public Library
Crews were on-scene until 2:20 a.m. Sunday morning, and then were called back to the scene around for a rekindle.
