Parkland View Apartments fire remains under investigation; embers reignited Monday morning

Oct. 11--UPPER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP -- The cause of a weekend fire remained under investigation Monday even as firefighters returned to the Parkland View Apartments to extinguish burning embers inside the gutted second floor of a 14-unit building.

Upper Macungie Township Fire Commissioner Grant Grim said firefighters went back to the apartment complex at 1055 Cetronia Road about 10:50 a.m. for a report of a light smoke condition. He said crews quickly extinguished embers that rekindled at the rear of building N, which was largely destroyed during Sunday's fire.

Grim declined to comment on the origin of the fire inside the building, where the central second-floor apartments appeared to have the most damage.

"The wind really beat us up bad, it just fed the fire," Grim said.

Gusting winds Sunday morning rapidly swept the fire through the interior of the 5-year-old building and up to its roof. Crews then had to attack the three-alarm fire with four aerial trucks.

The fire sent flames 20 feet above the two-story apartments.

The American Red Cross said it assisted 20 adults and three children who were displaced or affected by the fire, according to a news release.

A handful of residents returned to the site Monday morning and some met with insurance agents.

Monica Stewart, a University of Southern Florida medical student participating in a Lehigh Valley Health Network program, said she out at the time of the fire. Several residents of the apartment building are members of the program. When they didn't see her after the building was evacuated they started calling.

Stewart said her insurance company is paying for a local hotel room, and her agent said to expect the property inside the apartment to be a total loss. Officials told her that she may be allowed back inside after the investigation to attempt to salvage some of her belongings.

Kushner Real Estate Group of New Jersey owns the complex, which includes more than 25 apartment buildings and is valued at more than $40 million, according to Lehigh County property records.

David Perlmutter, a regional manager with Kushner said the complex is worth more than the initial $40 million assessment, however, he did not have an estimate of the value of building N. He said the company will rebuild the structure after an insurance company completes its review.

Kushner owns Liberty Park on Allenbrook Drive in Allentown as well as several residental and office complexes in New Jersey.

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