EAST STROUDSBURG, MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A man and a woman died Wednesday after a fire in Monroe County. The cause is now being looked into after the flames destroyed the building in East Stroudsburg.
In addition to the two deceased victims, a third is in the hospital receiving treatment. Their condition is unknown at this time.
The deadly fire caused great devastation.
A fiery blaze burned through the second floor of the Wander Inn Bar and Grill late Wednesday morning.
The intense flames at the restaurant on South Courtland Street took the lives of several people inside.
"Probably the worst fire we have had in 10 years or so," East Stroudsburg Fire Chief Nate Black stated.
"I thought maybe a car blew up or something," East Stroudsburg resident Umar Abdul-Haqq said.
Abdul-Haqq works at the Salvation Army just a few blocks away. He was on a walk when he says he noticed the building was billowing with smoke.
"Automatically, I called 911, and the dispatchers said, 'Yeah, we know, everyone is calling.' And within two minutes, the smoke started getting thicker. Like, really thicker," Umar Abdul-Haqq explained.
Chief Black says his crew arrived on scene just before 11:00 a.m. to find the second floor engulfed in flames.
"At first there was too much fire we couldn't make entry into the original fire building," Chief Black said.
Dupont apartment building damaged in fireThe windy weather caused it to spread, destroying multiple apartments above the business and damaging a part of the home next door.
"We tried to contain the fire to the original fire building as much as we can. We try and keep it from getting to exposures, but due to the proximity and the wind direction today, it just, no," Chief Black continued.
Fire crews from several area departments were on scene for hours in the rain, putting out pockets of fire and cleaning up debris.
Abdul-Haqq says he's saddened to hear of such devastation and the lives lost in his neighborhood.
"The world needs love right now, and it needs to be more in-tuned with what's going on and pay attention. It's really bad nowadays," Abdul-Haqq stated.
A State Police Fire Marshal is looking into the cause of the fire and says they are focusing on the left side of the second-floor porch.
Again, the conditions of that third fire victim are unknown, and the identities of the two deceased are not being released at this time.
28/22 News will update you with the latest as it becomes available.