For the period of Friday August 21, 2009 to Thursday August 27, 2009 the Niagara Falls Fire Department responded to 124 calls for assistance.
Friday August 21 – In the span of less then three hours the members of the Niagara Falls Fire Department responded to two separate incidents involving pedestrians struck by vehicles. The first incident was reported at 8:26 PM for a pedestrian struck in the 1700 block of LaSalle Avenue. On arrival the patient was conscious and alert but complaining of pain in the lower extremities. Firefighters protected the patients’ neck and spine by immobilizing them to a long backboard. The patient was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The second incident was reported shortly after 11PM when an individual on the 86th Street Bridge was struck by another vehicle. This patient also suffered relatively minor injuries but was transported to Memorial medical for treatment.
Saturday August 22 – A serious motor vehicle accident that occurred just before noon in the 6600 block of Niagara Falls Blvd required the response of fire department units. The multi-vehicle incident caused extensive damage to the involved vehicles and sent a total of two people to area hospitals. One of the patients was initially reported to be unconscious and on arrival of fire department units had obvious injuries to their chest accompanied by difficulty in breathing. The patient was immobilized and provided oxygen to assist with their breathing and was transported to the Trauma unit at ECMC with serious injuries. A second patient complained of lower extremity pain and was transported to Memorial Medical Center Traffic on Niagara Falls Blvd was impacted for some time as members of the NFPD reconstructed and investigated the crash.
Saturday August 22 – The day was almost over when at 11:51 PM a vehicle fire was reported in the 500 block of 25th Street. Units from the 10th Street station arrived to find fire involving the front end of a vehicle. Handlines were deployed to extinguish the fire before it could completely involve the vehicle and possibly spread. The owner of the vehicle had recently had some repairs done on the vehicle and fire investigators have determined that the fire originated within the dashboard.
Thursday August 27 – At 12:26 AM a full assignment was sent to a commercial building in the 5600 block of Frontier Avenue. Fire units arrived and found a significant fire that was outside of the building and involved a pile of wood chips. Multiple hoselines were deployed in an attempt to cut off the fire and stop in from completely consuming the large pile. Firefighters were successful in gaining the upper hand and after about one hour were able to declare the fire under control.
The members of the Niagara Falls Fire Department appreciate the many kind words of condolence that was expressed by our residents following the tragic loss of two Buffalo Firefighters. It was an honor and privilege to send fifty members of the department to Buffalo to not only support our brother firefighters but to represent the people of the City of Niagara Falls.
School will be opening in the near future and we caution both pedestrians and motorist to exercise care.
