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Trial for 2013 homicide in Wilkes-Barre starts with changed story from witness

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CHEMS opens Wilkes-Barre substation

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Eddie Hart got a phone call that he did not expect on Sunday.</p><p>Hart, 39, Nardone Brothers Baking Co. facility manager on Hazle Street, picked up the phone shortly after 2 p.m. to learn his place of employment was in flames. When he arrived, he was &#8220;shocked, upset&#8221; at what he saw.</p><p>Hart, of Wilkes-Barre, said his family&#8217;s financial well being &#8212; and the employees who could not work because the extensive damage &#8212; are of major concern for him.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to probably be a big downtime for us,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The cause of the destructive blaze still is under investigation. City Fire Chief Jay Delaney said he expected a determination of the fire cause would be released within 24 hours.</p><p>Vincent Nardone, an owner of the company, he is hopeful the 100 employees will be able to work at another company facility in Hanover Township. He did not indicate whether or not there would be plans to rebuild the store, but the owners were waiting for an insurance adjuster to examine the building on Monday.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re going to try to accommodate them (employees) in any which way we can,&#8221; Vincent said.</p><p><strong>&#8216;An anomaly&#8217;</strong></p><p>A three-alarm fire wreaked havoc on the bakery on Sunday afternoon. The fire, which broke out at about 2:30 p.m., drew in 17 firefighters, three paramedics, four engine trucks, a ladder truck and two medic units.</p><p>The outside of the building showed signs of the blaze, with char marks visible Monday morning. The smell of smoke was still apparent.</p><p>The inside of the building, according to Delaney, suffered the brunt of the damage.</p><p>&#8220;I can clearly say that it was a very extensive fire; it was a very hot fire and it did an enormous amount of damage inside the building,&#8221; Delaney said.</p><p>Delaney pointed out the fire was only two blocks away from the city&#8217;s fire headquarters. Firefighters saw smoke as they left the station to combat the blaze.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s an anomaly to have a fire this extensive on a Sunday afternoon a couple of blocks from a fire station,&#8221; Delaney said.</p><p>Delaney explained that crews arrived to an &#8220;enormous&#8221; amount of fire. Initial reports indicated there were two people inside the building, prompting responders to do a preliminary search of the building.</p><p>Once it was determined no one was in the building, crews then began to battle the fire.</p><p>While crews were inside fighting the fire, Delaney said the area ladder was set up to fight fire on the roof.</p><p>Flames were under control by 3:15 p.m. Delaney explained that fire investigators were on the scene Sunday and Monday, and the investigation has narrowed the area to the fire&#8217;s point of origin.</p><p>No injuries were reported.</p><p>&#8220;The firefighters did a textbook job fighting this fire,&#8221; Delaney said. &#8220;They did a really, really good job.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Business woes?</strong></p><p>When asked how the fire would affect business, co-owner Frank Nardone attributed the success or failure of the business to customers continuing to buy from them.</p><p>&#8220;It depends on how loyal our customers are going to be,&#8221; Frank said.</p><p>Frank explained the company has contracts with school districts throughout the country. Here in Luzerne County, that includes the Wilkes-Barre Area and Hazleton Area school districts.</p><p>The company also has contracts with retail stores, such as Gerrity&#8217;s.</p><p>Hart explained that workers have had to throw away considerable product due to smoke damage and the fire would restrict what the facility can offer.</p><p>&#8220;Items will definitely be limited that we bid on to serve them,&#8221; Frank said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just what they&#8217;re willing to accept from us.&#8221;</p><p>Vincent Nardone reiterated that once the insurance adjuster got to look at the building, they would have a better idea of what would happen next.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re gonna just go one step at a time and go from there,&#8221; Vincent Nardone said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney talks with officials from Nardone Bros. Monday morning as two fire investigators work inside the business to determine the cause of a fire that occurred inside the business Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL081115NardoneBrosFire.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney talks with officials from Nardone Bros. Monday morning as two fire investigators work inside the business to determine the cause of a fire that occurred inside the business Sunday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Nardone Brothers Baking Co. owners moving forward despite Wilkes-Barre fire