Fire damages city sports academy inside old school

Feb. 25--Fire heavily damaged a former Wyoming Street parochial school on Monday evening, destroying a youth athletic business that recently opened in the building.

Hazleton firefighters responded to a 7:45 p.m. report of smoke pouring from the windows of the former St. John's Byzantine Catholic School on the corner of North Wyoming and East Spring streets.

At the rear of the two-story red brick building, which faces Fulton Court near the entrance to the former Duplan building adjacent to Harman-Geist Stadium, heavy smoke billowed from windows on the first and second floors as well as from air vents on the basement level. A stiff, cold wind blowing from the north fanned the flames as firefighters broke through a rear door on the building to attack the fire where flames seemed heaviest.

For more than a hour, firefighters attacked the fire and combed through the interior rooms and hallways, making sure no wind-fed embers ignited other areas inside the building.

Dan Cunningham of Hazleton stood with his fiancee, Edna Myers, in the snow-covered back yard of the former St. John's Convent across the street from the burning building, watching firefighters battle the blaze.

About six months ago, the couple opened the Hazleton Sports Academy Fusion in the old school building.

Cunningham is a former Hazleton Area soccer coach. He said he resigned from the school job to follow his dream of opening a youth athletic training center.

Cunningham rents the first floor of the building from owner Wilton Rodriguez.

Cunningham said he was at the building overseeing a group of about 10 children who were practicing soccer techniques. The last child left around 6:30 p.m. Cunningham said he locked up the building and left about 10 minutes later.

Shortly after going home, Cunningham said he got a phone call from the owner of a neighboring gym facility.

"He said, 'Dan there's smoke coming from the windows of your building.' I said, 'Oh, yeah, that's a funny joke,'" Cunningham said of the phone call from the neighboring businessman.

With tears in his eyes, Cunningham watched the firefighters extinguish his smoldering dream.

Myers was at the scene with Cunningham. She left in tears.

Across town, Kim Bianco was putting her recycling at the curb for morning pick up when she saw heavy smoke billowing from the vicinity of Harman-Geist Stadium.

"I thought the Duplan or the stadium was on fire. I said to my son, 'Something downtown is burning,'" Bianco said.

From a nearby street corner, she and her son, Daulton Zschunke, 15, watched the firefighters work to extinguish the blaze. Bianco's nephew, Zack Zschunke, is a city firefighter.

Deputy Fire Chief Shawn Jones said the most extensive fire damage is at the rear of the first floor where a stage is located. Jones said fire got inside wooden columns that frame the stage and carried the flames to the first floor ceiling. There was no fire damage to the second floor, Jones said.

When the building was used as a school there was a bowling alley in the basement. There was no information on the extent of damage to the basement immediately available.

Jones said a state police fire marshal would likely be called to assist with investigation into the cause and origin of the fire due to the size of the building and the extent of the damage.

There were no injuries reported.

A colorful youth soccer ball, used by the children who trained at the facility, lay on the street in an icy tangle of fire hoses and freezing slush.

Cunningham said he has business insurance, but wondered if it would be enough to replace the equipment inside the building. No amount of insurance would replace the work he did himself to lay carpet, install basketball hoops, remodel, refurbish and build his dream.

Cunningham said he recently moved to a new residence a little further North on Wyoming Street so he could be closer to his business.

"I guess I wasn't close enough," he said.

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