Times Leader

Massive blaze forces several homes to be evacuated in Pittston

Crews from all over Greater Pittston fight a massive blaze that broke out in a vacant building once home to Color World on Oak Street in Pittston Monday night. Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

PITTSTON — A massive fire broke out in a vacant building that was once home to Color World, completely destroying the building and displacing several residents in surrounding homes.

Pittston City fire chief Frank Roman said that the Red Cross has been called in to assist those displaced, from an estimated three or four homes in close proximity to the vacant building.

Roman confirmed that no injuries had occured in the blaze.

Crews from all over Greater Pittston were called to the structure, located on West Oak Street in Pittston, just before 9:45 p.m. on Monday night for a massive fire that had broken out.

A thick cloud of smoke hung over most of the city as crews worked to extinguish the fire, which engulfed the building and led to the back of the structure collapsing.

It took crews around 45 minutes to get the fire under control, according to Roman.

While those surrouding homes did take on some minor fire damage, the quick work of everyone involved prevented the fire from spreading and engulfing the homes.

Also spared from fire damage was the neighboring Pet Zone, a pet supplies store located right next door to the now-destroyed vacant building.

Roman said that there were live animals inside Pet Zone, and that they were “hunkered down” and safe from any imminent danger from the fire.

Crews were working on getting backup generators into the store, which had lost power during the fire.

Roman said that it was too early to tell what exactly sparked the fire, or where it may have originated from inside the building.