SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — Around 2am Wednesday, the Scranton Fire Department, soon joined by the Dunmore Fire Department, rushed to West Scranton to find the West Side Hotel engulfed in flames.
“Pretty intense scene when the initial crews arrived,” explained Scranton fire chief John Judge. “They started to try and extinguish the fire, but it was pretty significantly progressed.”
For hours the crews battled the flames, rescuing everyone and making sure it didn’t spread to the surrounding buildings.
Over 10 hours later around noon, the Scranton FD was still dowsing the building in water, now in ruin, to make sure all hot spots were accounted for and another fire wouldn’t start.
During the fire more than 20 residents were inside.
“The room was filled with black smoke,” described Tracy Vargas, one of West Side Hotel’s residents. “We open the windows and were yelling, yelling. There was fire trucks out there, police officers, all this black smoke, flames we were screaming for 20 minutes for somebody to help, help, help, help and nobody was coming to help us”
The Scranton FD, the city, and the Red Cross arranged for a makeshift shelter within the West Scranton High School gymnasium for the displaced residents. While some residents left to stay with family or in hotels, most lost everything leaving them with only the literal clothes on their backs, some, still without shoes.
“To see everybody’s faces, the pain that’s on their face, you know, we don’t have much,” explained Michael Leonard. “We don’t come from much, but we’re trying to do, you know, the right thing right now and it just seems I don’t know which way to turn. My head’s kind of backwards right now.”
Leonard is a city worker who is turning his life around and was living in the hotel. He told us that he lost everything besides the clothes he was wearing and that after finally thinking things were on the right track, Wednesday morning’s fire has left him feeling like he’s living in a nightmare, one he can’t wake up from.
“We could use the help, a shoulder to lean on right now, you know? Because I don’t know what I’m going to do,” he continued. “I don’t have nobody up here, I’m not from this area, I came here for a fresh start. And right now, I just need, I just need some help.”
Thankfully they got some. Sources tell us that Leonard is safe in an apartment, and the Red Cross says a community partner is helping to provide each person with a hotel stay for the night and that they will continue to support and connect the residents with resources. The temporary shelter is now closed.
Multiple residents also told Fox56 that at the time of the fire the fire alarm was malfunctioning on the third floor, only flashing lights and not making any noise. They also told us the landlord had yet to reach out to any of them at the time of the interview.
Fox56 reached out to the landlord of the West Side Hotel for a comment and have yet to hear back.