On Sunday January 15, 2023 at approximately 1900 hours, officers were dispatched to the front of the Riverview Apartments at 131 Main Street for a smoke and flames. When officers, observed the cigarette receptacle near the benches was on fire, and used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. Officers discovered that the cigarette receptacle was made out of plastic and did not have a metal bucket/container at the bottom, making it more likely to catch fire.  

The Catawissa Borough Police Department would like to remind residents to fully extinguish and properly dispose of their cigarette's once they are finished. Any businesses with cigarette receptacles, should routinely empty used cigarette's and have metal buckets on the bottom and should not be made out of plastic.

If anyone has any information or video recording of the incident, please contact The Catawissa Borough Police Department at 570-356-7102 or at the non-emergency number 570-784-6300. If you have any video recordings of the incident, you can email them to cpd@catawissaboro.com