Cause of fire at Wire Tele-View building in Pottsville remains under investigation; no major injuries reported

POTTSVILLE — No civilians were injured in the blaze that destroyed the Wire Tele-View Corp. building Thursday night, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Fire Chief James E. Misstishin Sr. said.

WIRE TELEVIEW FIRE

David McKeown / Staff Photographer Smoke billows out of the Wire Teleview building as firefighters work to gain control of the blaze in Pottsville on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

The fire, which was reported around 6:50 p.m., drew a response from several crews from Pottsville and surrounding municipalities to the cable service provider’s building at 603 E. Market St., on the city’s east side.

Firefighters were on-scene for several hours as a crew from UGI worked to shut off a gas line.

Misstishin said the fire was mostly under control by the time that was completed, with firefighters extinguishing the remains shortly thereafter.

WIRE TELEVIEW FIRE

David McKeown / Staff Photographer Firefighters respond to a blaze at the Wire Tele-View building in Pottsville on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

“The bulk of the fire was knocked down in approximately an hour,” he said, “but then, we had to wait for UGI to get the gas shut off. We had an open fire with the gas line for a couple hours.”

While no civilians were injured, Misstishin said, two firefighters suffered minor injuries.

Misstishin recalled feeling scared when, at one point, the front of the building collapsed toward firefighters and some of them ran for their lives.

“My heart was in my mouth,” he said. “I was at our engine, pumping — I didn’t see the collapse — but I heard it, turned around and I feared for the worst. But everyone was able to get away from it.”

WIRE TELEVIEW FIRE

David McKeown / Staff Photographer Fire engulfs the Wire Tele-View building in Pottsville on Thursday, May 23, 2024.

While the fire was mostly contained to the Wire Tele-View building, there was damage to four nearby homes, and 10 people were displaced, Misstishin said.

“One home sustained substantial fire damage on the second floor,” he said, “and the other three homes had smoke and water damage.”

He said the Wire Tele-View building would be ruled a total loss. He did not know if the incident had caused any disruptions to cable and internet service.

Misstishin said firefighters battled the blaze in defensive mode, meaning there were no attempts to go inside the burning structure. No one was inside the building at the time of the fire, he said.

As of Friday morning, Misstishin said, it’s unclear what caused the fire and he could not confirm if there had been an explosion.

He said Pottsville firefighters, city police and state police, who are investigating the fire, will likely have more information by Tuesday.

“The firefighters did a great job,” he added. “I commend them for their efforts here. It was a big fire.”

M. Michael Peckman, director of marketing and public affairs at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Schuylkill, said the hospital had lost cable service overnight, but it was restored Friday morning.

The hospital, which uses Wire Tele-View for cable, then saw intermittent outages throughout the day, Peckman said.