A fire damaged a popular kielbasa store and hair salon on East Union Street, Nanticoke, early Wednesday morning.
Ed Lewis | Times Leader
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NANTICOKE — Mark Tarnowski hopes to be back in business sooner rather than later after a fire severely damaged his kielbasa store and his daughter’s hair salon business early Wednesday morning.
If the building at 14 E. Union St. can’t be salvaged, Tarnowski — owner of Glen Lyon Bros. Kielbasa — said he’ll have his food truck parked in the driveway selling his popular and well-enjoyed sausage.
“Honestly, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Tarnowski said while standing in front of his business with his family. “If we can’t get up and running, I’ll have the food truck parked here.”
Nanticoke City firefighters along with firefighters from neighboring municipalities responded to the building at about 2:30 a.m. Flames spread to an adjacent vacant house at 20-22 E. Union St. and heat damaged the exterior siding at 28 E. Union St., which is occupied.
Tarnowski said he has been in business at the East Union Street location for 15 years, as his family has been making kielbasa since the 1940s.
Tarnowski said they were smoking kielbasa for their stand at the Bloomsburg Fair and his son, Erik, went to the store to turn off the smoker at 2:30 a.m.
“We were making kielbasa sticks last night, cleaned up, did the dishes and set the alarm to turn off the smoker,” Tarnowski said. “When my son went to check on the smoker, he found it collapsed. It just started to spread from there.”
No injuries were reported. A state police fire marshal has been called in to investigate the cause.
Tarnowski makes kielbasa in the rear of the building, as his daughter has a hair salon business in front.
Firefighters from Hanover Township, Newport Township, Plymouth, Kingston and Avoca assisted Nanticoke City firefighters.