For the period of June 6 to 12 the Niagara Falls Fire Department responded to 137 calls.
• INCIDENT: The excessive heat may have been a contributing factor to an incident involving a propane storage tank that occurred at 1:06 p.m. June 6 in the 8800 block of Point Avenue. The unmistakable odor of propane began to fill the air and the fire department was alerted to respond to a potential leak. Firefighters arrived and found the internal pressure relief valve had operated on the cylinder and was venting the highly flammable gas into the atmosphere. This may have been caused from a defective valve or due to the excessive temperature and direct sunlight. The valve may have operated as designed to prevent the tank from catastrophic failure. Residents are reminded that it is not uncommon for cylinders that are full or have recently been filled to vent if they are stored in direct sunlight. Propane tanks should be stored out of direct sunlight, but never in an enclosed space including garages, basements, or sheds.
• FIRE: The air in the 2200 block of Falls Street began to fill with smoke just before 5 p.m. June 7. Numerous calls were received at central alarm reporting a structure fire and firefighters arrived to find a fire on the outside of a frame dwelling with a possible spread to the interior. Flames were rapidly going up the side of the building as firefighters deployed hoselines to combat the fire. Fortunately the actual fire damage was confined to the exterior of the home. The fire is believed to have originated in trash cans that were stored along the side of the building and may have been sparked by a discarded cigarette. Damage from this fire was estimated at between $5,000 and $10,000.
• INCIDENT: Firefighters were summoned to Goat Island just before 3:30 p.m. Sunday for a report of an unresponsive individual. The crew of Engine 4 arrived to find State Parks Police performing CPR on a patient in cardiac arrest. Firefighters and police officers continued to perform CPR on the patient until they were loaded into an ambulance for transport to the hospital.
• ACCIDENT: The sound of crunching metal startled residents of the 2200 block of Forest Avenue just after 8 p.m. Sunday. Firefighters from both the 10th Street and Royal Avenue stations respond to the accident which wound up sending a total of three patients to the hospital. While none of the injuries was considered to be life-threatening, each patient was immobilized to prevent any additional neck or back injury.
• ACCIDENT: At 6:40 p.m. Monday, dispatchers received a call indicating that a man was trapped by some heavy material at a commercial establishment located off 56th Street. Subsequent reports indicated that the man was trapped between two tractor trailers when some material fell onto him from an elevated position. Coworkers were in the process of extricating the man when fire units arrived and began an assessment of the situation. The victim was freed and was found to be suffering only minor injuries.
• FIRE: Once again firefighters responded to the 1600 block of New Road as the smoke from illegal burning filled the air. Shortly after 8 a.m. Tuesday, units were alerted to an unknown type fire in the vicinity of New Road and Porter Road. Firefighters arrived to find a sizable pile of debris that was intentionally set on fire by the property owner. Firefighters used a combination of hoses, as well as water carried on the apparatus, and extinguished the fire. Members of the Fire Prevention Bureau investigated and found that this was the same location of an earlier fire that also was intentionally set to burn debris.
• FIRE: City firefighters respond on a routine basis to a high rise structure in the 7000 block of Buffalo Avenue. While most of the calls are minor in nature, this was not the case when a call was reported at 10:58 a.m. Thursday indicating some type of electrical fire in the building. Arriving firefighters found fire coming from the side of the building in the area of the main electrical feed. Flames were impinging on the structure and firefighters began deploying hoselines to the interior while others determined what was actually burning. Interior firefighting crews reported smoke in the structure and obvious signs of a significant electrical problem. Calls were immediately placed to National Grid seeking their assistance in isolating the power coming into the building. Once National Grid was able to remove the high voltage, fire crews could extinguish the fire using conventional methods. Damage to the electrical service is extensive with initial damage estimates in excess of $100,000. The build has been condemned for occupancy at this time by Inspectors assigned to the Building and Inspections Department.
