Fire early Thursday morning damages Passion Lounge

June 15--WILKES-BARRE -- A fire early Thursday morning damaged the Passion Lounge.

A supervisor at Luzerne County 911 confirmed that crews were dispatched to the nightclub at 4:45 a.m. Thursday for a commercial structure fire.

Fire Chief Jay Delaney said crews arrived to find smoke alarms going off and glowing smoke coming out of the nightclub. He also said the interior of the structure was extremely hot.

"Early on, we just didn't know where the fire was, but there was an awful lot of heat, an awful lot of smoke," Delaney said.

The response was upgraded to three alarms due to the size of the structure and nearby businesses being in close proximity to the nightclub, Delaney said. A Nationwide Insurance building and Liberty Pizzeria are close to the nightclub. The glass door of the Nationwide Insurance business was broken, but employees could be seen reporting for work.

Delaney said crews were able to extinguish the fire after an aggressive interior attack by firefighters.

By 9 a.m., investigators remained on the scene to investigate. The windows of the business were shattered, and the smell of smoke still permeated the air.

Delaney said the damage to the nightclub was extensive and that the cause is still under investigation.

Last week, shots rang out outside of the nightclub and left one person injured.

Check back to timesleader.com for more details as they become available.

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