Thick smoke and intense flames filled Scranton's hill section Tuesday when flames broke out in a double home and quickly spread to four others.
More than two dozen people were forced from their homes. When it was over, three buildings were consumed by flames.
One city official said this is one of the most destructive blazes in the city's recent history.
At 11:30 a.m. 909 and 911 Monroe Avenue were bursting with flames. Thick, gray smoke billowed from the homes in the city's hill section.
Scranton's firefighters scrambled to extinguish the blaze but it kept spreading.
The 911 call came when Melinda McNally discovered the fire. "Short flames. I smelled the smoke. I was sitting on my balcony waiting for my mother to come and I smelled the smoke and I came in the house and my bed was on fire. I don't know how but it was," McNally recounted. "I ran down the stairs and I came to neighbors and I said, 'My bed is on fire. I can't work the extinguisher,' and I left."
She added she grabbed her children and got out of the house.
McNally lives in the 911 side of the house where she and more than two dozen other people live in six apartments. Everybody inside 911 got out okay.
Jaime Trinko lives next door. Her worries were about her pet cat. "I came home because I wanted to get my cat out. I should have left the windows open so she could get out. I just want her to be okay. I hope no one was hurt in any of the other buildings. There's more people that live in the other buildings," Trinko said.
The spreading fire was incredibly frustrating for Rocky Barbaro and his wife. He had to watch as the flames spread to his place at 907 Monroe.
"Everybody was moving the trucks whatever, and the fire kept going, going up going up. The next thing I see my house in on flames. Then they start throwing the water," Barbaro said.
Those who lived in the burning homes could do nothing but watch the flames spread.
One Scranton firefighter was hurt when he was burned on the neck.
Investigators are still trying to find the cause of the massive fire.
More than two dozen people were forced from their homes. When it was over, three buildings were consumed by flames.
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At 11:30 a.m. 909 and 911 Monroe Avenue were bursting with flames. Thick, gray smoke billowed from the homes in the city's hill section.
Scranton's firefighters scrambled to extinguish the blaze but it kept spreading.
The 911 call came when Melinda McNally discovered the fire. "Short flames. I smelled the smoke. I was sitting on my balcony waiting for my mother to come and I smelled the smoke and I came in the house and my bed was on fire. I don't know how but it was," McNally recounted. "I ran down the stairs and I came to neighbors and I said, 'My bed is on fire. I can't work the extinguisher,' and I left."
She added she grabbed her children and got out of the house.
McNally lives in the 911 side of the house where she and more than two dozen other people live in six apartments. Everybody inside 911 got out okay.
Jaime Trinko lives next door. Her worries were about her pet cat. "I came home because I wanted to get my cat out. I should have left the windows open so she could get out. I just want her to be okay. I hope no one was hurt in any of the other buildings. There's more people that live in the other buildings," Trinko said.
The spreading fire was incredibly frustrating for Rocky Barbaro and his wife. He had to watch as the flames spread to his place at 907 Monroe.
"Everybody was moving the trucks whatever, and the fire kept going, going up going up. The next thing I see my house in on flames. Then they start throwing the water," Barbaro said.
Those who lived in the burning homes could do nothing but watch the flames spread.
One Scranton firefighter was hurt when he was burned on the neck.
Investigators are still trying to find the cause of the massive fire.
