Calls for service
For the period of May 30 to June 6 the Niagara Falls Fire Department responded to 141 calls.
• ACCIDENT: A mid-afternoon accident sent four people to a local hospital on Sunday afternoon. Numerous calls started to pour in at 2:50 p.m. reporting a serious accident somewhere in the area of the LaSalle Expressway and Buffalo Avenue. The incident actually turned out to be on the Robert Moses Parkway at the Buffalo Avenue exit. Fire units from the LaSalle area stations arrived to find a vehicle which had rolled over causing injury to the occupants. While some of the responding firefighters started to tend to the injured parties, others ensured that the vehicle was stable and that there were no hazardous fluid leaks. Firefighters stood by while the police investigated the accident and a recovery crew up-righted the vehicle.
• ACCIDENT: Sunday continued to be busy with incidents involving motor vehicles when at 5:30 p.m. fire units were sent to the 2200 block of Walnut Avenue for a motor vehicle versus pedestrian accident. This was the first of four incidents involving pedestrians being struck by motor vehicles that the department responded to this week. Fortunately in each of the incidents the injuries turned out to be non-life threatening. One sure sign of summer is the increase of pedestrian traffic on our streets. The Niagara Falls Fire Department reminds everyone (drivers and pedestrians) of this fact and to exercise caution at all times.
• FIRE: The 900 block of Depot Street was the scene of an arson fire that involved an automobile on Tuesday. Firefighters arrived on the scene at 2:55 a.m. to find a 1996 Ford Taurus well-involved in fire. Quick deployment of hoselines limited the damage to the Taurus but not before the vehicle sustained damage in excess of $3,000. The fire remains under investigation at this time.
• FIRE: The 900 block of Niagara Avenue was the scene of a dinnertime kitchen fire on Tuesday. The fire, which occurred in a multi-story apartment, building initially was reported as an alarm activation and when firefighters arrived on the scene they were met with heavy smoke conditions on an upper floor. Additional fire units were dispatched to the scene as firefighters were unsure of the actual extent of fire involvement. The fire caused relatively minor fire damage, however, the building did fill up with a considerable amount of smoke. No injuries to firefighters or occupants were reported.
• FIRE: As firefighters were clearing the Niagara Avenue call, a neighbor flagged down a passing police patrol car Tuesday and reported smoke coming from a vacant building in the 1500 block of Cleveland Avenue. Fire units quickly arrived and found that some bedding and other material were on fire in the living room of the structure. The fire was quickly extinguished with no structural damage to the building. This suspicious fire is currently under investigation.
• FIRE: The 300 block of Spruce Avenue was the scene of an early afternoon fire Wednesday in a single-family home. Fire units from 10th Street arrived to find smoke coming from the rear of the structure and on further investigation determined that the rear porch of the building was on fire. Hoselines were rapidly deployed in an effort to keep the fire from spreading to the main part of the structure. These efforts were successful and although the fire caused a reported $7,000 in damage the main part of the building remained undamaged. The cause of the fire is believed to be unattended cooking.
