Fire heavily damages Taylor home

CHRISTINE LEE, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

TAYLOR — Mark Clark expected to spend his Friday evening relaxing at his home in the 700 block of South Main Street. But his evening became anything but relaxing when he looked out his window and saw flames shooting from the building across the street.

Fire crews from across the Downvalley, Duryea and Chinchilla responded to the structure fire at 716-718 S. Main St. just after 8 p.m.

Flames were visible near the roof of the multiunit building, which firefighters extinguished by 9:15 p.m. Four people were home at the time of the fire but got out safely, with no injuries reported, Fire Chief Wes Jones said.

Clark was preparing dinner that evening when he noticed his cat acting frantically. When he went to check on her, he saw the flames and a man outside the burning house. Taylor police also yelled for four other people to get out, which he said they did, assembling at the neighboring Taylor Community Library.

"It was tense as they weren't coming out initially," Clark said as he sat on his front porch. "I'm glad everyone was able to get out."

Heavy smoke was visible for miles, drawing dozens of passersby, many of whom gathered around the building, some taking photos and video on smartphones.

Among them were borough residents Tom and Margaret Woody, who noticed the smoke while driving to their home on West Taylor Street from the Viewmont Mall.

Margaret Woody said there was so much smoke visible that she thought the whole mountain was on fire. Another passerby, David Miller of Moosic, was driving on the street with his wife, Nicole, when he saw the flames.

"They were shooting out of the roof 15 to 20 feet high," he said.

Jones said the fire was confined to the attic and a state police fire marshal would investigate. He said the fire doesn't appear suspicious.

"All the initial crews on site did an excellent job," Jones said.

Clark has lived in the 700 block of South Main Street for 30 years and had never been so close to a fire until Friday. He was glad first responders got to the scene in a short amount of time.

"The firefighters were here so fast," he said.