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54 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Luzerne County Thursday; 3 more deaths

Longtime publishing editor Genevieve Young dead at 89

KINGSTON &mdash; A mother and her son died in a fire that destroyed their home and severely damaged three other houses on Eley Street early Thursday morning.
				Kingston/Forty Fort Fire Chief Frank Guido said firefighters from multiple departments responded to the fully involved structure fire at 107-109 Eley St. just before 1 a.m.
				Firefighters were hampered by frigid temperatures and frozen fire hydrants within a three to four block radius, Guido said.
				&ldquo;Terrible conditions, we had multiple issues with fire hydrants, we have to find out what is going on there. Multiple hydrants were frozen up due to the cold weather. They usually don&rsquo;t freeze up,&rdquo; Guido said.
				Guido confirmed a mother and her son died in the blaze. Their bodies were removed by the Luzerne County Coroner&rsquo;s Office at about 8:30 a.m.
				Officials identified the victims as Helen M. Sweetra, 89, who lived at 107 Eley St., and her son, Anthony Sweetra, 57, who lived at 109 Eley St.
				With frozen hydrants troubling firefighters, flames extended into occupied houses at 105 Eley St., where three people reside, and 111 Eley St., where one person lives.
				Another occupied home at 113 Eley St. sustained smoke and water damage, Guido said.
				A total of six occupants from the neighboring homes were forced to evacuate. They were not injured.
				Guido said they declined assistance from the Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross saying they have other places to stay.
				Joe Mertis, who lives seven houses away on Eley Street, said he was watching television with his girlfriend when he noticed fire apparatus vehicles.
				&ldquo;We went out and the house was fully engulfed. We walked down to make sure some people my kids play with were all right. As soon as we went down, someone said there were two elderly people that didn&rsquo;t make it out,&rdquo; Mertis said.
				Hours after the fire was extinguished, firefighters continued to hit hot spots of what remained of 107-109 Eley St. All that remained of the double block home where the mother and son died was the rear half of the structure and two chimneys.
				The roof at 111 Eley St. collapsed with flames extending out windows endangering the occupied home at 113 Eley St.
				Two state police deputy fire marshals were on scene investigating the cause of the blaze.
				What remained of 107-109 Eley St. was razed late Thursday morning.
				Guido said occupants of the homes affected were not injured. Several firefighters slipped on ice that formed from water runoff but were not injured, Guido said.
				Firefighters from Edwardsville, Larksville, Plains Township and Wilkes-Barre assisted at the scene.
				Susan Turcmanovich, external affairs manager for Pennsylvania American Water, said they are working with the fire department to determine what caused hydrants to freeze.
				&ldquo;Pennsylvania American Water conducts annual inspections of company-owned fire hydrants in the communities it serves. Hydrants in Kingston and surrounding communities were inspected in July, and no issues were reported at that time. We are currently working with the Kingston (Forty Fort) Fire Department to investigate the issue,&rdquo; Turcmanovich stated.

Mother, son perish in Kingston fire