LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. – Around 4:20 AM on Thursday, January 31, Hazle Township Fire Rescue was dispatched to the Boscov’s Department Store in the Laurel Mall for a commercial fire alarm. Crews were advised of a sprinkler activation.
141 Engine 3 arrived on the scene and found smoke showing from one of the main entrances. The engine requested the box be upgraded to a commercial fire.
141 Tower 7 arrived on scene and positioned in front of the engine. Crews stretched a leader line through the front door after taking out the glass. Smoke was filling the entire second floor of the department store at this time.
Hazleton City 139 Rescue 3 arrived and was directed to pump a plug in the parking lot. Valley Regional Rescue arrived and was directed to send their personnel to the front door.
Crews located the seat of the fire in a storage room, which was being controlled by the sprinkler system, and had the leader line charged. Interior crews reported the fire knocked down within minutes.
McAdoo Quint 49-22 and Freeland Ladder 136 were sent to the other two entrances and directed to set up PPV fans in the doorways to push smoke out of the building. Firefighters used nearby benches and shopping carts to keep the entry doors open.
The fire was placed under control around 5:30 AM and a State Police Fire Marshal was requested to the scene.
Second alarm companies began to pick up and go available around 6 AM while the Hazle units began to breakdown. Firefighters had to battle this blaze while also battling extreme temperatures that hovered around -10 degrees throughout the incident.
