Fire hits another vacant house in Luzerne Twp.
LUZERNE TWP. — The state police fire marshal has tentatively determined that a fire that ripped through a vacant house in Luzerne Township on Monday night was intentionally set.
Ryan Nichols, Luzerne Township Volunteer Fire Department chief, said the fire at 707 Hazel St. was the third house fire in the last month in the area and the third that appears to be an arson case.
“When I started as chief almost eight years ago, we didn’t have house fires,” Nichols said. “Now it seems that something is going on and we have a string of them at abandoned or vacant homes. It is clear something is going on.”
Nichols said the fire, which began shortly after 9 p.m., destroyed the house, which had been for sale.
“The power was still on at the residence but thankfully the home was vacant,” Nichols said.
Nichols said that he is working in conjunction with the Isabella Volunteer Fire Department to try and crack down on abandoned houses in the area to avoid having them being targeted for arson.
“(Area municipalities) are worrying about abandoned cars, but we need to stress that we need to be concerned about abandoned homes, too,” Nichols said.
He said his fire department was assisted by volunteer firefighters from Isabelle, South Brownsville, Hiller and Tower Hill.
No volunteer firefighters were injured while battling the blaze.