For the period of Friday October 31, 2008 to Thursday November 13, 2008 the Niagara Falls Fire Department responded to 223 calls for assistance.
Saturday November 1 – The quite Saturday afternoon was shattered when at 3:33 PM fire as well as police units were dispatched for a reported shooting in the 8700 block of Pershing Ave. Once police units were able to secure the scene and fire department EMT’s were able to safely begin patient care. Department members began to treat the patient wounds which were determined to be life threatening. Rural Metro arrived on the scene and using a combination of firefighters and Rural Metro staff the patient was transported to a local hospital.
Saturday November 1 – The LaSalle area of the city continued to be busy Saturday evening. Shortly after 11PM multiple fire units were dispatched for a serious auto accident on the LaSalle Expressway. Firefighters arrived to find a late model vehicle with significant damage with one patient believed to be in cardiac arrest. Once again a team of firefighters and Rural Metro employees worked together to transport the patient to a local hospital. It is believed that a medical emergency may have been a contributing factor in the cause of this accident.
Monday November 3 – At 6:47 PM fire units were dispatched for a reported fire at a commercial building in the 2400 block of Buffalo Avenue. What was originally reported as a false alarm turned out to be a significant electrical emergency involving a series of high voltage switches. Fire units stood by while plant personnel secured the electrical power and check for any residual fire. Damage estimates for this blaze are placed at $10,000.
Thursday November 6 – The intersection of Ferry and Portage was the scene of a vehicle accident that sent at least two patients to an area hospital. Fire units arrived and began by securing and stabilizing the involved vehicles. Once that was accomplished and with the NFPD controlling traffic, firefighters were able to begin patient care. None of the injuries was considered serious and a third party refused medical attention.
Saturday November 8 – The telltale odor of burning material filled the area of the 400 block of 18th street just before 8PM. Responding fire units from the Royale Avenue station saw the glow in the sky as they responded west to the incident. Engine 8 arrived and found a garage that was fully involved and threatening other nearby exposures. Fires rapidly deployed a 2 ½’ diameter hose to begin and aggressive attack on the blaze. The large amount of water that the handling was able to apply soon had the fire under control. The building was a total loss and this fire is classified as suspicious. Fire Investigators as well as arson detectives continue to investigate.
Sunday November 9 – Once again fire units assigned to LaSalle were dispatched for a structure fire. Just before midnight calls were received indicating some type of structure fire in the 7900 block of Buffalo Avenue. Engine Seven from the 72nd Street station was the first to arrive and encountered flames at the rear of the structure. Firefighters from Truck Two reported smoke in the building with fire threatening to break out on the interior of the structure. The exterior fire was quickly brought under control but not before the fire was able to penetrate the exterior wall and begin to burn on the interior. Additional hoselines were deployed to the inside of the structure and that fire was also quickly extinguished. Smoke filled the inside of the structure which made the building uninhabitable. The Red Cross was called to assist the displaced occupants. The exact cause of this fire is still under investigation.
Over the past two weeks the department has responded to a number of incidents involving the activation of carbon monoxide detectors. While some of these are malfunctions are related to batteries and other matiainance related items some of them are critical emergencies. Any activation of a carbon monoxide detector should be investigated by fire department members with devices designed to detect low concentrations of this deadly gas.
While the exact cause of the tragic fire that occurred last week in Niagara County is still under investigation, it is believed that the home was not equipped with a working smoke alarm. More then 50% of all smoke alarms that are found in a home after a fatal fire are found to be without batteries. At this time of the year many people are beginning to cook more which makes a working smoke alarm a must. In addition never remove the battery from your smoke alarm to power other electrical devices.
