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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A late morning fire and electricity outage at St. Luke&#8217;s Villa left the nursing home running on emergency power into Friday evening.</p><p>Crews were dispatched to the nursing home on East Northampton Street about noon after reports of a &#8220;loud explosion,&#8221; smoke and no power to the building or the surrounding area, according to Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney.</p><p>Delaney said that a fire started in an elevator control room and was extinguished by the sprinkler system. But the sprinkler system kept running after the fire was put out and had to be manually turned off by staff.</p><p>Delaney said the fire was caused by an electrical surge to the elevator equipment, but it was unclear if the surge caused the outage or if the surge was caused by the outage.</p><p>PPL worked to restore power to the surrounding area, with Delaney saying electric service was back by 4 p.m. for everyone but St. Luke&#8217;s Villa.</p><p>Delaney praised staffers at the Diocese of Scranton-owned facility for how they moved patients from the affected area, even though it was a relatively small fire.</p><p>&#8220;The staff did a very, very good job,&#8221; Delaney said.</p><p>The patients were returned to their rooms while PPL was still working to restore normal power, according to Dan Gallagher, manager of community affairs for the diocese. As of 6:30 p.m., Gallagher said PPL was hoping to restore service later in the evening, but everything was operating well on the emergency backup.</p><p>&#8220;Everything is continuing as normal,&#8221; he said.</p><p>Delaney said the fire was just one of a few emergencies reported as a result of the power outage.</p><p>Crews were also dispatched to nearby University Towers at 11:50 a.m. for reports of a Wilkes University student stuck in an elevator.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Delaney </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_delaney.jpg</photo0><caption0>Delaney </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Power outage and minor fire disrupt St. Luke’s Villa, surrounding area