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Wind-related reports coming in

By Howard B. Owens

A tree is reportedly down and blocking Main Street in Alexander.

Also, a large limb is down and blocking on Francis Road, Bethany.

Wires reportedly down and sparking on Myrtle Street, Le Roy. A Le Roy chief says "several minor power outages in the area the past several minutes."

UPDATE 6:53 p.m.: Tree down on Bowen Road in the area of Broadway, Darien.

UPDATE 6:54 p.m.: Tree down on Clinton Street Road.

UPDATE 6:55 p.m.: Francis Road cleared of the limb.

UPDATE 7:01 p.m.: Tree and wires down, with the tree on fire, reported in the area of 5866 N. Byron Road, Byron. Byron and South Byron fire units responding.

UPDATE 7:02 p.m.: Utility pole with live wires reported down in the Yellow Goose parking lot, 110 W. Main St., Le Roy. Le Roy fire responding.

UPDATE 7:05 p.m.: The warning has been extended to 7:30 p.m. The storm is moving east at 85 mph with winds of 60 mph.

UPDATE 7:08 p.m.: Debris reported in the roadway of West Main Street near Ellicott Avenue, Batavia.

UPDATE 7:18 p.m.: The severe thunderstorm warning for eastern Genesee County has been cancelled.

UPDATE 7:20 p.m.: Police requested to check the area of Richmond Avenue and Union Street for a possible wire arcing.

UPDATE 7:23 p.m.: Report of a wire down at the side of the road and sparking on Route 77 near Lewiston Road. Alabama fire dispatched. Also, report of a wire down on Chandler near Bank Street, Batavia.

UPDATE 7:26 p.m.: Tree down, blocking, on Warboys Road near Byron Holley Road.

UPDATE 7:27 p.m.: A tractor-trailer has blown over in the area 8940 Alleghany Road, Pembroke.

UPDATE 7:29 p.m.:  A deputy on scene: "The trailer just blew back on its wheels."

UPDATE 7:30 p.m.: In the area of 11 Trumbull Parkway, Batavia, report of a "Christmas tree blowing at large in the roadway."

UPDATE 7:33 p.m.: Traffic lights out at Main and Center, and Main and Jackson, according to Batavia PD. Also, National Grid reports two power outages in the county right now: one in the area of Bushville (just east of Wortendyke Road) affecting 89 customers, and one near the Wyoming County line in Darien affecting 16 customers.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: Lights out in Le Roy at Routes 5 and 19, and a Le Roy PD officer reports being on Munson "watching construction material blow down the road." One of Le Roy's chiefs is in route from Yellow Goose to Summit Street where a tree is down with wires arcing.

UPDATE 7:41 p.m.: At 9679 Francis Road -- tree limbs down, blocking.

UPDATE 7:44 p.m.: Le Roy assignment on Summit back in service. Tree is leaning against the line providing service to the house, but it's not a fire department issue at this point. 

UPDATE 7:51 p.m.: Large tree down blocking on North Bergen Road. Tree partially blocking on Byron Holley Road, north of North Byron.

UPDATE 7:56 p.m.: Some sort of electrical problem with a utility pole in the parking lot of Pandora's Boxx, on Ellicott Street Road. Town of Batavia Fire Department on scene. National Grid requested to the scene. In another location, barn roof reportedly blew off and struck a tractor-trailer (I missed the location) (from reader comments: "Baskin Livestock, Creek Road").

UPDATE 7:59 p.m.: Nine customers without power in the area of Richmond and Union, Batavia. 

UPDATE 8 p.m.: Large tree and wires down in the area of 2311 Bennett Road, Darien. Darien fire dispatched.

UPDATE 8:02 p.m.: Le Roy fire back in service from Yellow Goose incident.

UPDATE 8:09 p.m.: Tree down blocking northbound lane of Route 77, north of Lockport Road. A car has struck a trash can on Ellicott Street Road in the area of Pandora's Boxx and is now in the gas station parking lot, disabled. No injuries. Tree limbs are down in the area of 21 Pleasant St., Batavia, blocking.

UPDATE 8:12 p.m.: Didn't catch the road, but it's between Fargo and Alleghany roads -- tree down, blocking.

UPDATE 8:17 p.m.: Lines down, but not arcing, in the area of 112 Summit St., Batavia. City fire dispatched.

UPDATE 8:22 p.m.: City of Batavia fire dispatched for an automatic alarm of fire with the odor of smoke in the building, 38 Woodrow Road, the Genesee ARC building.

UPDATE 8:25 p.m.: Report of a tree down at West Main and River streets, Batavia. 

UPDATE 8:30 p.m.: Tree down blocking Route 20, Bethany. City fire on scene at 38 Woodrow, no smoke detected, investigating.

UPDATE 8:34 p.m.: Report of wires down and burning on Linden Road and March Road, Bethany. Report of tree down on North Road, Le Roy.

UPDATE 8:36 p.m.: Limbs down, Tripp Road and Townline Road, Elba. At Woodrow, city fire reports no smoke or fire.

UPDATE 8:46 p.m.: Byron and South Byron back in service. Road remains barricaded.

UPDATE 8:53 p.m.: Tree down, blocking eastbound Route 20, just west of Brookville Road. Alexander fire dispatched for traffic control.

UPDATE 8:54 p.m.: An Alexander chief is attempting to move a dead tree blocking Putnam and Creek roads.

UPDATE 9:17 p.m.: Large tree down, 19 Kibbe Ave., City of Batavia.

UPDATE 9:17 p.m.: Alexander fire back in service after clearing tree from Route 20.

UPDATE 9:21 p.m.: A state DOT dispatcher passed along to county dispatcher that a tree is down completely blocking Route 20 about a mile west of Route 98, and a wire is down. The Alexandar chief is on scene and says the DOT crew is close to having the tree cleaned up, but there may be a wire down. The chief is requesting all available manpower to the Alexander Fire Hall.

UPDATE 9:23 p.m.: Route 20 is being shut down in both directions, at Route 98 on the east side and at Route 238, Darien. Darien fire dispatched to close Route 20 on the west side.

UPDATE 9:40 p.m.: Line down and arcing in the area of 11420 Peoria Road, Pavilion. Pavilion fire dispatched.

UPDATE 9:46 p.m.: Tree down blocking Bank Street, Batavia, near Dwyer Stadium.

UPDATE 9:51 p.m.: National Grid on scene, Peoria Road (actually, National Grid on scene of something in Bethany).

UPDATE 10:09 p.m.: There are now 12 spots of power outages in Genesee County affecting about 900 customers. The largest is in the North Bergen area, bordered by Townline Road on the south, Honest Hill in Orleans County on the north, Transit/Townline Road on the west and not quite to Route 19 on the east. In the southeast area of Alexander, 40 customers are without power. Just west of Creek Road, Batavia, 13 customers are without power, and in Alexander, just north of Sprauge Road, about a dozen customers are also without power. There's a tree down and blocking Starr Road, Pavilion.

UPDATE 10:26 p.m.: Bethany fire released from Marsh Road incident. In the area of Simmonds and Richley roads, a car has hit a pole, unknown injuries, but wires are down.

UPDATE 10:29 p.m.: Power is out on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation, affecting 194 customers. Also, about 60 customers in Alabama are without power. The previously reported outages are still without power.

UPDATE 10:31 p.m.: A metal sign is blowing in the roadway on West Main Street, Batavia.

UPDATE 10:33 p.m.: The driver from the Simmonds and Richley accident reportedly tried to flee the scene. He reportedly ran into a barn and then was located by a firefighter about 200 yards from the accident, lying in a ditch.

UPDATE 10:37 p.m.: A tree is partially blocking Colby Road.

UPDATE 10:39 p.m.: Wire are down on the roof of a house and arcing, 22 Cary Ave., Oakfield.

UPDATE 10:52 p.m.: The wire down at 22 Cary Ave. is not arcing.

UPDATE 10:55 p.m.: Darien's ambulance is transporting the driver to UMMC.

UPDATE 11:35 p.m.: Wires down, Otis and South Jackson, Batavia.

UPDATE 11:49 p.m.: Otis was cable wires down. City Fire back in service. Also, Alabama is on scene of smoke in the residence at on Martin Road.  Smoke is not going up the chimney as it should.  A chief on scene said they may need to clean the chimney for the residents.

UPDATE 12: 24 a.m.: Nearly the entire Town of Bethany is without power, some 400 customers. Tonawanda has power restored. There are about 16 power outage spots in the county. The North Bergen outage is ongoing.

This is the last update on this post for the night. Goodnight.

joseph bradt

UPDATE 7:56 p.m.: Some sort of electrical problem with a utility pole in the parking lot of Pandora's Boxx, on Ellicott Street Road. Town of Batavia Fire on scene. National Grid requested to the scene. In another location, Barn roof reportedly blew off and struck a tractor trailer (I missed the location).

---Baskin Livestock, Creek Road.

Jan 17, 2012, 8:11pm Permalink
Kyle Couchman

Does it matter Jamie? I mean really these people were trying to heat their home on a very blustery and nasty night. If your trying to imply that the fire dept wasting time and resources, well theres some wiggle room for argument, but they have a system called prioritization. Don't worry if your home suddenly caught fire they are still gonna respond to that first.

Jan 18, 2012, 8:11am Permalink
Irene Will

Well said, Howard. Those guys in the Alabama Fire Department are MY friends and neighbors - and I thank GOD for them every time I hear that siren go off.

Jan 18, 2012, 9:46am Permalink
Jamie Lindsley

Au contraire: My intentions were not that dire at all. Besides, I am not an Alabaman, so my concern was not use of limited resources. I expect that in foul weather our emergency responders must be prepared for all types of emergencies, and I especially commend our volunteers for their altruism. We should all take time to thank our volunteers.

My vision was this: a community outreach / safety / fundraising effort for the local not-for-profit fire departments. Households can sign up for a "free" chimney cleaning by the fire department, who already has the necessary equipment, and then make a donation if so moved. I know I would drop a couple of Benjamins into their boot.

In rural counties such as Genesee, there are great numbers of wood burning stoves and furnaces which are prone to creosote buildup and the inherent dangers associated with it. The community outreach would prevent fires, build relationships within communities, and keep people safe. Furthermore, I would not want an elderly relative to hire a chimney sweep I'd never heard of, but would gladly accept a fire department's assistance on her behalf.

Thank you for presuming I was second-guessing our brave volunteers - that made me giggle.

Jan 18, 2012, 4:42pm Permalink

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