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UPDATE:

WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney said Wednesday morning all 61 residents returned to the senior living facility on North Sherman Street after a fire forced an evacuation Tuesday night.

Delaney praised the staff at North Penn Manor for a “well-coordinated evacuation” of residents wearing night gowns and bed clothing when a fire broke out in a laundry room at about 10 p.m.

Residents were permitted to return to the living facility at about 1 a.m., Delaney said.

When the fire broke out, residents were outside in two separate parking lots in cold temperatures. A sprinkler system extinguished the blaze that was contained to a laundry room.

Delaney said after conversing with the city’s code enforcement office, it was decided it was safe for residents to go inside another part of the living facility.

“The staff did an excellent job at removing the residents in an orderly manner,” Delaney said. “Given the time at night, residents were outside in night gowns and bed clothing and hypothermia could quickly set in. After meeting with the city code enforcement, it was safe to place them in another wing of the building.”

Residents were then moved to an emergency shelter at the nearby Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross on North Sherman Street.

“I was up there this morning and they were having breakfast,” Delaney said.

No injuries were reported.

Ambulance departments from Hanover Township, Kingston and Plains Township and TransMed ambulance assisted at the scene.

Delaney said the cause of the fire was a commercial dryer and the ruling was accidental.

WILKES-BARRE — Sixty-one people were displaced Tuesday night following a fire at a senior living facility on North Sherman Street in the city.

No injuries were reported in the blaze at North Penn Manor, Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney said, but the facility sustained “fairly decent damage.”

The fire was reported to be out by around 10 p.m.

With temperatures hovering in the low 30s, residents were initially brought back into an undamaged part of the building to get them out of the elements until other shelter could be found.

As of 10:30 p.m., Delaney said the residents were being taken to a temporary American Red Cross shelter nearby pending further arrangements.

Responding equipment included two engines, one aerial truck, and seven ambulances from various agencies, the chief added.

Good Samaritans

Three men at the scene told the Times Leader they heard about the blaze and hopped in a car to see if they could help.

Nicholas Link, 33, Jeremy Hooker, 24, and Jeff Dalessandro, 29, drove from New Hancock Street nearby.

“It was really smoky in there,” said Link, adding: “It started in the laundry room from what I could see.”

“When we got here, we just helped evacuate the residents,” Hooker said.

“When the fire department, got here we took blankets from the truck and distributed them to residents and helped move them to the parking lot,” Link added.

They also observed staff members fighting to move residents to safety.

“The two women working were like Superman,” Dalessandro said.

Residents of North Penn Manor are escorted to safety after a fire broke out Tuesday at the Wilkes-Barre building.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112118fire1-8.jpg.optimal.jpgResidents of North Penn Manor are escorted to safety after a fire broke out Tuesday at the Wilkes-Barre building.Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

A firefighter backs in one of the nine ambulances on scene to take residents of North Penn Manor to the Red Cross building down the street after the facility suffered fire damage.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112118fire3-8.jpg.optimal.jpgA firefighter backs in one of the nine ambulances on scene to take residents of North Penn Manor to the Red Cross building down the street after the facility suffered fire damage.Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_DAN_FIRE-14.jpg.optimal.jpgDan Stokes | Times Leader

Residents of North Penn Manor are escorted to safety after the facility suffered fire damage Tuesday night.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112118fire2-8.jpg.optimal.jpgResidents of North Penn Manor are escorted to safety after the facility suffered fire damage Tuesday night.Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112118fire5-7.jpg.optimal.jpgAimee Dilger | Times Leader

Residents of North Penn Manor are led away from the fire-damaged North Penn Manor in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL112118fire4-7.jpg.optimal.jpgResidents of North Penn Manor are led away from the fire-damaged North Penn Manor in Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday night.Aimee Dilger | Times Leader
No injuries reported in North Penn Manor blaze

By Dan Stokes

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