Firefighters battle 3 blazes; 2 women hospitalized

Area firefighters got little sleep Saturday morning as three separate fires damaged properties throughout the region and sent two people to the hospital.

Two women were flown to Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown for injuries they suffered when a fire broke out shortly after midnight at a home at 920 Main St. in Avoca.

Home owner Anna Joyce suffered first- and second-degree burns on her leg and smoke inhalation, Avoca Fire Chief Chris Van Luvender said. Tsiala Mozaidze, Joyce’s caregiver, pulled her employer into the hallway and Avoca Police Chief David Homschek helped get Joyce outside. Mozaidze suffered smoke inhalation.

When crews arrived, flames were showing in the rear of the home, said Van Luvender. The fire began in a bedroom, but he ruled the fire accidental. Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire within about 30 minutes.

“There is extensive damage, but it should be repairable. There was heavy smoke throughout the home,” Van Luvender said.

Dupont firefighters responded to a fire at DeFazio’s Caf� at 410 Main St. shortly after the call was received at 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

After arriving on the scene, Dupont Fire Chief Don Hudzinski Jr. quickly called for backup from other fire departments in the Pittston area.

It took 50 firefighters from eight departments almost two hours to extinguish the two-alarm blaze at the structure, which included a caf� and above-stairs apartment, Hudzinski said.

“The fire had a very good start before we got there. It had a pretty good jump on us. We had heavy fire on arrival,” said Hudzinski, noting the structure was “pretty-well” gutted.

While it’s unknown what caused the fire, it is suspected to have begun in the rear of the structure.

On the opposite end of the county, a fire in Nanticoke kept emergency personnel equally busy.

Yellow police tape cordoned off 110 Center St., where two dogs perished Saturday in an early-morning house fire in the Hanover section of Nanticoke.

Flames were coming out of the front of the home at 110 Center St. when firefighters responded to the double-block home after getting the call at 2:31 a.m., Nanticoke Assistant Fire Chief Chester Prymowicz said.

The dogs appeared to have died from smoke inhalation. Like small children, dogs get scared during a fire and try to find a hiding spot instead of trying to get out of the structure, he said.

The property at 110 received “heavy fire damage”, but the other portion of the structure received “some water and smoke damage,” he said.

The fire was under control by 3:15 a.m. and all of Nanticoke’s fire trucks were back in service by 5 a.m.

It’s unknown what caused the Dupont and Nanticoke fires. A state police fire marshal is expected to be in the area this week to investigate those blazes.

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