50 Years Ago – Fire damages West Scranton shoe store

Times-Tribune (Scranton, PA)

Feb. 13—Feb. 13, 1971

West Scranton shoe store damaged by fire

Sunny's Shoe Store at 106 N. Main Ave. was damaged the morning of Feb. 13 by a quick-moving fire.

Scranton firefighters reported that the shop's owner, Ben Sunness, opened the door to the basement and was hit in the face "with dense acrid smoke that immediately filled the first floor of the two-story building." Sunness immediately called the fire department.

Firefighters arrived and got right to work putting down the fire. They used high-pressure hoses at the front and back of the building, and from above used aerial ladders.

Sunness estimated he lost $15,000 in stock in the fire in addition to the general damage done by the fire, water and smoke.

The quick action of the firefighters kept the fire from spreading to the neighboring businesses Mace Money Mart, Kerry's Pharmacy and the offices for Drs. August Frattali and E.J. Balester.

The neighboring businesses did suffer some smoke and water damage.

J.C. Penney closed for founder's funeral

The J.C. Penney Co. store at the Viewmont Mall announced it would be closed from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Feb. 16, 1971, for the funeral of the department store chain's founder J.C. Penney.

Penney died Feb. 12 at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. He went to the hospital on Feb. 11 after suffering a heart attack.

The J.C. Penney at the Viewmont Mall, which opened in 1968, was the firm's first store in Pennsylvania.

Out & about

"The Goodtimers" at Casey's Bar in Dunmore, The Day Brothers and Harmony 5 at the Weldwood in Eynon, Ricki Tee and the Cats Upstairs at the Six Pence on Moosic Street, New Kanned Music at the University of Scranton Student Center, High Notes at American Legion Post 948 and Frog Hollow Day Camp at Central Catholic High School in Dunmore.

BRIAN FULTON, library manager, oversees The Times-Tribune's expansive digital and paper archives and is an authority on local history. Contact Brian at bfulton@timesshamrock.com or 570-348-9140.

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