W-b Owes To Two Firefighters

Albert Stravinsky 
Feb. 5, 1994 
Albert J. Stravinsky, Of Walnut Street, Luzerne, Died Saturday At Riverstreet 
Manor, Wilkes-barre.

By P. DOUGLAS FILAROSKI; Times Leader Staff Writer
 Tuesday, February 08, 1994 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A QUICK WORDS: UNDERGROUND WIRES
BLAMED IN CINEMA FIRE 





WILKES-BARRE TWP. -- Live wires in an underground conduit were blamed for a
smoldering fire beneath a cinema at Wyoming Valley Mall, relieving officials'
initial worries about a possible mine fire. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The mall reopened on time Monday after closing an hour early Sunday.
Emergency officials were concerned a hot spot discovered Sunday in the
concrete floor at the Cinema Center inside the mall could be a mine fire. The
center also reopened on time, showing its first movies of the day at 1:30 p.m. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "We are very relieved. It could have been a lot worse," said Chuck Balko,
who manages the 80-store mall for owners, Crown America Inc. of Johnstown. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Sunday, Luzerne County emergency management officials detected heat as
high as 350 degrees in a small section of the floor along with unsafe levels
of carbon monoxide in one of the center's four theaters. The hot spot was
discovered by cinema workers before the theater opened to the public Sunday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The heat in front of the Cinema III movie screen caused red paint on the
concrete floor to bubble and the ground to buckle. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On Monday, county officials called in state and federal surface mining
experts, only to have the electrical problem discovered by a local contractor
brought in by Crown America. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A test by Steve Brdaric of mall contractor T.C. Lloyd Construction Co. of
Pittston Township, found a faulty conduit to blame. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Brdaric said the conduit was used to feed a heating system disconnected 10
years ago. He said someone may have turned on the line recently, causing
deteriorated wires to fire up. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He speculated the smoldering blaze may have been burning for as long as a
week, until workers noticed the heat. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Brdaric said workers disconnected the line Monday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Luzerne County Emergency Management Director Jim Siracuse said officials'
concern about a mine fire Sunday may have been enhanced by a subsurface
problem discovered near the mall two years ago. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In 1992, Pennsylvania Gas and Water Co. workers doing routine line
inspections found flammable methane gas which they determined came from
garbage buried in former strip mines. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The gas was discovered in a parking lot near Jolly King Buffet, and in
other locations along Mundy Street near the mall. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "With the mine fires that we've had in the area, and with this situation,
we figured it was better to be safe in this regard," said Siracuse, referring
to the Laurel Run mine fire, which still burns less than two miles away. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The mall property was built in 1971, partly atop a landfill area and partly
atop an area of deep mining. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The cinema portion of the mall was constructed on top of a deep mining
area, later filled in with coal. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Nervous store managers showed up early for work Monday so that emergency
workers could check the level of carbon monoxide gas in their locations. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This is a big concern for me. This is my only source of income," said
Michael Steinberg, owner of The Pro Image, pointing to his store. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Workers determined the fire was contained to a relatively small,
3-by-5-foot portion of the cinema floor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Representatives of the U.S. Office of Surface Mining and state Bureau of
Mining studied maps of the area under the mall and prepared to drill test
holes through the concrete floor. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It was a one-foot test hole on Sunday that released high levels of carbon
monoxide gas and alerted officials to a fire. The hole was capped with cement,
which dried in five minutes due to the high heat. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Within two hours Monday, Brdaric pinpointed the cause for the smoky fire. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said it is not unusual to leave live wires dead-ended in a conduit
beneath the ground. However, Brdaric said workers took the precaution of
unhooking the line on Monday. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We don't want to have to go back out there for something like this," he
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/RICHARD SABATURA &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Electrical contractor Steve Brdaric of T.C. Lloyd Construction Co., left,
and Robert Yochimowitz, maintenance director for Crown America Inc., perform
electrical tests inside the Cinema Centers complex on Monday

Underground Wires Blamed In Cinema Fire 
A Local Contractor 
Discovered The Source Of 
The Fire In A 10-year-old 
Heating System Conduit 
Buried Beneath The Cinemas 
At The Wyoming Valley Mall

Underground Wires Blamed In Cinema Fire A Local Contractor Discovered The Source Of The Fire In A 10-year-old Heating System Conduit Buried Beneath The Cinemas At The Wyoming Valley Mall