Firefighter injured battling blaze that destroyed popular Wyoming County restaurant
May 19—CLINTON TWP. — The lights went out during Brenda Spangenberg's lunch.
Then came cries of "fire."
As Spangenberg sat in her car Friday, the Factoryville woman recounted how flames upended her day and burned down Gin's Tavern, a Wyoming County landmark and one of her favorites.
As she sat for a meal there Friday with two friends, the restaurant went dark and an employee announced "everybody out, there's a fire in the back."
The blaze tore through the restaurant shortly after 2 p.m. and reduced it to rubble.
The popular family restaurant opened in 1955. Its current owners, the Vanko family, declined to comment.
Medical personnel evaluated a Factoryville firefighter for smoke inhalation. His name was not disclosed.
As EMS monitored the blood pressure of firefighters in a medical tent, one with oxygen tubes fed into his nose signaled with a thumbs-up when he was asked for his condition.
No other injuries were reported, said Triton Hose Company Fire Chief Eric Kukuchka.
"It's a horrible, horrible loss to the community," Kukuchka said.
Only a few people were inside for lunch before the fire started shortly before 3 p.m. Spangenberg was one of them. As she and her friends left the restaurant, they noticed black smoke begin to rise. Flames followed.
The first fire companies who arrived found "heavy fire," Kukuchka said. By around 4 p.m., firefighters from 20 companies in four counties, including Lackawanna and Wyoming, largely had the blaze under control.
A state police fire marshal will be contacted to investigate, Kukuchka said.
Contact the writer: jkohut@timesshamrock.com, 570-348-9100, x5187; @jkohutTT on Twitter.
