Batavia Fire Department is responding to a reported "transformer explosion" at 61 Walnut St. National Grid has been notified.

UPDATE 2:54 p.m.: The transformer is fine, says the fireman. They are leaving the scene. There are a couple of wires up high there that are dangling or loose. "Mighta been some squirrels," the fireman says, as a possible explanation.

A motor vehicle accident in downtown Batavia prompted the landing just minutes ago of a Mercy Flight helicopter in the parking lot of the Salvation Army Store on Jackson Street (the old Star Market).

At the accident scene nearby, a car is reported to be on its roof, which required extrication of the occupant(S). Mercy EMS met the helicopter out of Buffalo at the gate of the Salvation Army.

No further details yet.

UPDATE 7:36 p.m.: The Life Flight helicopter is airborne, bound for Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

A car fire is reported at 8534 Seven Springs Road in the Town of Batavia. It is near the railroad tracks. Batavia Fire is responding.

A car accident is reported in the City of Batavia at Liberty and Ellicott streets. Law enforcement is told to approach from East Main Street because of fuel spillage.

Batavia city police, fire and Mercy EMS have responded to a motor-vehicle accident at 28 South Main St. wherein a vehicle crashed into a house.

The driver is alert and talking but there are injuries. Mercy Flight has been notified and is on "hot standby" until further notice.

The city code representative is in route to the scene. National Fuel and National Grid have been called. The gas has been shut off. Traffic control police are on scene.

UPDATE (3:06 p.m.): This is apparently the result of a law-enforcement ground pursuit gone wrong. A woman at the scene said she was standing outside her house when she saw a Sheriff's Deputy's car chasing a black 4X4 pickup truck at high speed. The driver lost control of his pickup truck and it zoomed off the road and into her house, narrowly missing her, and killing her.

Mercy Flight is set to land at a nearby park's tennis court.

UPDATE (3:19 p.m.): Sheriff's Investigator Kristopher A. Kautz said the chase started on Route 33, west of Reed Road, in the Town of Batavia. The suspect's pickup was headed eastbound and the Sheriff's Deputy was westbound, when the law officer suspected the truck driver was speeding. The deputy turned around to pursue the suspect but he would not stop. Road spikes were put down somewhere west of the Roundabout. The suspect's pickup hit the spikes, flattening the tire(s) and lost control. That's when the vehicle jumped the roadway and careened into the woman's house, barely missing her. No other violations were pending or suspected concerning the suspect and his pickup.

UPDATE (3:28 p.m.): Deputies Chris Parker and John J. Zola, who weren't involved in the chase, said they laid down the spikes in the area of Route 33 and Pearl Street Road. Parker said they're purposely designed to let the air out of tires slowly, so no instant loss of control occurs. The suspect continued to drive well after hitting the spikes, and as he neared the Roundabout, he lost control. Each of his two front tires were pierced by spikes. Batavia Daily News reporter Matt Surtel was heading back to the newspaper office from Wyoming County when he got caught up in the roadway chase on Route 33.

UPDATE (3:56 p.m.): According to Batavia Police Det. Rich Schauf, the house was knocked off its foundation and, basically, the truck is holding up the house. Thus, they will leave it right where it is temporarily until the homeowner can make repairs shore up the foundation. The American Red Cross has been called to assist the occupant(s) with housing, etc. Schauf confirmed that the suspect has no known outstanding warrants.

A car-into-pole accident with power lines down is reported on Randall Road, just west of Keeney Road, in Le Roy. Le Roy Fire Department is responding.

Its fire police have closed Buckley Road at Randall to through traffic. A Le Roy ambulance is responding. No word on occupants or injuries.

A two-vehicle accident with one minor injury is reported at 4740 Barrville Road in Elba between Luddington and Bridge roads. Elba fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

A motor-vehicle accident is reported at Route 63 and Peoria Road in Pavilion. A van is on its side. Unjuries, if any, are unknown.

A Pavilion fire engine is responding and Le Roy medic is on scene. The driver is now in the ambulance.

A two-vehicle accident with injuries is reported on Akron Road in Pembroke, east of Wyman Road. Pembroke and Indian Falls are responding, along with Mercy EMS. Fire police are requested to block traffic on Akron and Wyman and Akron at Route 77.

A motor-vehicle accident with injury is reported in front of Tim Horton's restaurant at 20 Main St. in the City of Batavia.

City fire and Mercy EMS are handling it.

A motor vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported near the Thruway entrance at 8463 Alleghany Road. Mercy EMS is reponding. Law enforcement reported no need for Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments, which were notified, to respond.

A two-vehicle accident with injuries is snarling rush-hour traffic on Main Street. The accident occurred in front of Denny's on West Main and one of the vehicles is said to have heavy front-end damage.

No word yet on injuries. Medics and tow trucks have been called to the scene.

A car-into-pole accident with minor injuries is reported at 11345 Transit Road in Pavilion, near the Wyoming County line, east of Dublin Road.

The victim is inside the residence there awaiting emergency responders. There were three occupants in the car.

Emergency crews are handling a two-car accident with injuries at 6212 Route 5 (Main Street) in Stafford, just east of Transit Road.

There's a two-car accident with injuries reported at Alleghany and Ledge roads in Alabama. Air bags were deployed. Alabama Fire Dept. and Mercy EMS are handling the call.

There's a motor-vehicle accident with injuries on the Thruway in the westbound lane about a half-mile from the Batavia exit (mile marker 389 and a half, east of the Route 48 interchange). Emergency crews are responding.

Reader Dan Jones unfortunately is driving on the Thruway and called to say: "Tell your readers to stay the hell off the road."

Also, there's a car off the road at Pearl and Lover's Lane.

And intermittant power outages are wreaking havor with some communications, including being able to book people at the jail.

You know it's bad weather when a responder tells dispatch: "I think I'm on location."

UPDATE (by Howard): Picture above sent in from Dan Jones depicting the white out conditions on the Thruway.

A motor vehicle accident involving a pedestrian was reported at 9:04 p.m. at East Main and Swan streets in the City of Batavia. At 9:06 p.m., a medic crew and police were on scene.

UPDATE: 9:21 p.m.: a female pedestrian is reported to have minor abrasions and lacerations on her hands as a result of the accident. She is being transported to UMMC via ambulance.

Emergency crews from Pembroke and Indian Falls are heading to the Thruway to mile marker 403, westbound, to aid the driver of a tractor-trailer. He's reported to be out of the rig, covered with a blanket and dizzy. State Police are on scene.

Emergency crews from Elba and Stafford are responding to a single-vehicle motor vehicle accident at Oak Orchard and North Byron roads.

There are injuries and Mercy Flight is being called in, to land at the Stafford fire hall.

There were no serious injuries in the accident.

A one-car motor vehicle accident is being handled at Summit Street near North Street in Batavia. The female driver is coherent, walking around, but will receive a hospital medical evaluation.

It's a car-into-utility pole incident involving pole No. 24 (first reported as pole No. 596), which has three transformers. National Grid has been advised of the incident. It was initially believed that the pole was split and displayed arcing electricity at the top. First responders say the pole does not appear to be split, but National Grid will still need to inspect it.

CORRECTION: Someone, ostensibly with the fire department, sent an email correcting this post:

You combined two different car pole accidents into one....Pavilion had one at the same time with pole number 596 that was cracked toward the top. The one in the city was a few minutes afterwards and was pole 24 that had 3 transformers on it.

The Batavian regrets the error and appreciates the clarification.