Baluta plans on rebuilding

KULPMONT - A long-time borough business owner said he plans to rebuild after a fire that broke out early Thursday destroyed his business and two apartments on the floor above.

Ed Baluta, owner of Pappy Baluta and Sons Plumbing and Heating, was asleep in his home a few blocks away when his nephew, Joe Winhofer, of Kulpmont, notified him of the terrible news.

Just after midnight, flames and heavy smoke started to spread through the two-story building at 940 Chestnut St. (Route 61) that housed Baluta's business for 25 years.

"There's a lot of blood, sweat and tears in there," Baluta would say a short while later at the scene, watching as the fire raged. "Oh, my poor building."

Firefighters from numerous communities responded and fought for hours from all angles to suppress the flames, but the ravaged building's roof and second floor collapsed.

By 3 p.m. Thursday, a demolition crew had torn down the front portion of the charred building, as emergency officials had feared it would collapse onto Chestnut Street or neighboring buildings.

'Raging pretty good'

The fire was well under way by the time the first firefighters arrived.

"We had heavy flames at the rear of the building, coming out of the second floor," said Kulpmont Deputy Fire Chief Ray Siko. "It was raging pretty good."

Neighbor Cheryl Etzel was oblivious to the fire until the smell of smoke came into her home.

"I went to bed about 11 p.m. and there was nothing going on, then I noticed the smell later and woke up," she said. "I looked outside and saw that the flames were coming across the street.

"They were schedule to come fix my toilet this morning," she added about Baluta's. "It's not going to be the same without seeing them across the street."

Tenant at work

One resident of an upstairs apartment, Sandro Castro, was left homeless and is being assisted by the Red Cross.

Castro said he had left his apartment around 6 p.m. for work at the Newspring plant, near Mount Carmel, and was unaware of the unfolding disaster until police contacted him.

"I had off today, but I went into work," said Castro. "I am glad I went to work. The chief told me I lost everything."

Castro and Baluta stood next to each other and watched firefighters pour thousands of gallons of water on the flames.

The fire ripped through the front, second-floor windows and burned through an electrical line at the rear of the structure. A shower of sparks fell to the ground as the line disconnected from the building. The water did not seem to have an effect, and the flames became so intense they forced firefighters to evacuate the roof and scramble down a ladder truck. At 12:45 a.m., firefighters were told to leave the entire structure.

Siko said the fire was knocked down at approximately 2:30 a.m. and brought under control an hour later. A ladder truck from Ashland shot water down on the roof as the sun rose Thursday morning, putting out hot spots.

"This is a rubberized roof, and the way the building is constructed, there can still be little pockets of fire underneath, so we continue to wet the area down," Siko said.

'We will rebuild'

As daylight spread across the borough Thursday morning, Baluta sat in a chair in a backyard a few houses away, watching as firefighters and emergency crews still worked at his destroyed building.

"I have no idea how it started, only that it started on the second floor," said Baluta. "The important thing is that no one was hurt."

Despite his business being reduced to a pile of rubble on the sidewalk and adjacent Route 61 by the afternoon, the owner vowed to keep his business operating.

"We are going to see what is going on, and then start by working out of a garage in the back," Baluta said. "We will rebuild; this is not going to be the end."

Ruled accidental

Kulpmont Fire Chief Kevin O'Hearn reported that a state police fire marshal was on scene Thursday morning to investigate. With the fire gutting the building and making it structurally unsafe, he did not enter it, so the cause of the fire could not be determined, but was ruled accidental.

No injuries were reported, but a Mount Carmel Fire Department ladder truck was damaged at the scene and placed out of service. Siko reported the ladder was damaged, but said the problem did not hamper the firefighters' efforts in putting out the blaze.

Decision made to raze

With the flames out by daybreak, the next problem involved the structural integrity of the building, which, viewed from the front, had an obvious lean to the left.

"We are very concerned at this point for the potential of this building to collapse," Siko said about 6 a.m. "Borough officials have been here with us and they are attempting to contact a firm to alleviate the problem."

By noon, a demolition crew from Northeast Industrial Services, Mount Carmel, was on scene to dismantle the remainder of the building. After placing hay bales two stories high between the plumbing store and the homes on each side of it, an excavator with a steel ram attachment worked to bring down the building.

The plan, according to borough officials, was to collapse the building, then clean up Rt. 61 so it could reopen to traffic, which PennDOT did at 3:15 p.m. The remainder of the debris will be removed today.

A double home at 936-938 Chestnut St., east of Baluta's, owned by Pat Burns, suffered some fire damage to the roof and water and smoke damage throughout, while a home at 942 Chestnut St., west of Baluta's, also suffered smoke damage, but Siko believed it to be unoccupied.

'A loss for Kulpmont'

Kulpmont Mayor Myron Turlis called the fire "a loss for Kulpmont," but said he was encouraged by the spirit of volunteerism he saw.

"We have to thank all the neighboring municipalities that sent equipment to us to help us fight this, and those who donated coffee, water and food for the firefighters," Turlis said.

Crews responded from Kulpmont, Shamokin, Coal Township, Mount Carmel, Mount Carmel Township, Ashland, Upper Augusta Township, Wilburton, Elysburg, Overlook, Frackville, Catawissa, Danville and Sunbury. More than 100 firefighters are believed to have worked at the scene.