Olyphant fire crews on route to a structure fire just before 1 a.m. Wednesday believed residents were trapped inside a residence at 401 Delaware Ave. When they arrived, they found neighbors in the process of retrieving a ladder to get the residents out of the burning building.
The neighbors, along with borough police officers and firefighters, led the residents from the building to safety, minutes after fire crews got there.
Fire crews, who found the structure fully involved, initially battled the blaze from the inside of the building. But when conditions deteriorated, firefighters evacuated the building and attacked the fire from outside, according to Olyphant Police Chief Ed Woytach.
Firefighters remained on scene for several hours — first to extinguish the fire and then to conduct overhaul operations to ensure all hot spots were extinguished.
Two residents of the building were transported to hospitals for evaluation.
Woytach and Second Assistant Chief Bob Powell met later Wednesday morning with investigators from the Pennsylvania State Police Fire Marshal Division, who will be handling the fire investigation.
Sections of a roof lay on the ground from a home that was damaged by a fire on Delaware Ave. and Church St. in Olyphant Wednesday, February 25, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
An early morning fire destroyed a residence in on Delaware Avenue in Olyphant early on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, (Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Kenny)
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Sections of a roof lay on the ground from a home that was damaged by a fire on Delaware Ave. and Church St. in Olyphant Wednesday, February 25, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Responding to the fire were Excelsior Hose Company 1, Olyphant Hose Company 2, Eureka Hose Company 4, Liberty Hose Company 6, Queen City Hose Company 8, Jessup Hose Company 2, Wilson Hose Company 1, Eynon/Sturges Hose Company 3, Dunmore Fire Department, Fleetville Fire Company, Archbald Ambulance, Olyphant Ambulance and Pennsylvania Ambulance, in addition to Throop and Olyphant police departments.
Woytach expressed gratitude to the responding departments, as well as the neighbors who were so quick to assist.