Pocono Record

PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE HAVE DECLARED a fire that burned down a soon-to-be-opened furniture store Friday night/Saturday morning to be an arson.  The store was fully loaded with mostly wicker-style furniture and was expected to open within the next few days.  It was in a free-standing building which is part of an outdoor shopping mall in Monroe County, near Stroudsburg.

As the fire was starting, three state police troopers arrived on the scene and observed three males running from the scene.  Instead of chasing them, the troopers elected to attack the fire with their portable fire extinguishers.  The fire was set along the outside wall of the store, but it did not extend to the occupancies on either side.  One is a movie house and the other is an Army/Navy store.

The Pocono Record had a videographer on the scene who recorded the fire:

The shopping plaza has several other buildings, all of which are vacant.  The fire hydrant system for the complex is dry and prevented the Marshall’s Creek FD from attacking the fire in a timely manner.  A full tanker response was called and a row of portable tanks set up for the relay drafting water from a pond nearby.  Later a 5″ supply line was connected with a main a ways distant to feed into the dry yard hydrant system.

Pocono Record

The building along with at least $200,000 in stock was completely destroyed.

The Pocono Record has the full STORY HERE along with an excellent photo gallery HERE.