SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — On Friday, three Scranton Department of Public Works workers were thanked by the mayor for their quick thinking and heroic actions.
Around 6:30 A.M. Friday morning, a DPW crew was collecting recycling on Hampton Street when they noticed a fire starting on someone’s porch. One called the authorities as the other two raced to the home, using empty trash cans to shovel snow onto the fire to keep it from spreading. They also woke up the family, alerting them to the fire. The trio was there for ten minutes, keeping the fire under control until the Scranton Fire Department arrived, when they packed up and continued doing their job for the rest of their shift. Later Friday afternoon, Mayor Cognetti came to personally thank the workers and commend them on their good work. Two of the workers spoke with the media, saying they’d hope anybody would do what they did.
“I would just hope that this would be more norm,” said recycling collector Justin Krukowski. “Just, you see something, let’s just help each other out. Especially in these times, it seems like there’s big divides in the country and these things, I hope, just sparks that family to be like ‘people are out there.’ You know? We got them.”
Charles Dukerich, a recycling pack operator and the person who called 9-11 said, “You just see something happen and you take it upon yourself to render whatever assistance you can do.”
The homeowner asked media not to film the aftermath and declined an on-camera interview but said the workers saved his and his family’s life and that, “In a world of people doing devilish things, it’s nice to see that some people act as angels. They saved more than just my house with that snowbank.”
Because of the DPW workers, no one was killed or seriously injured.