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Plane spots brush fire in Bethany

By Howard B. Owens

A pilot has called in an apparent brush fire in Bethany, near Ellicott Street Road and Paul Road, perhaps halfway to Bethany Center Road.

Law enforcement and Bethany fire chiefs are trying to confirm the location.

One small controlled burn was found in the area but the area is being checked further.

The plane was in contact with a Rochester tower in Monroe County, which relayed the information to Genesee County dispatch.

UPDATE 6:07 p.m.: A small controlled burn located at Route 63 and Clapsaddle. Still investigating.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.: Residents burning sticks in their backyard were told to put the fire out, which they did. The Bethany assignment is back in service.

Billie Owens

Christopher, nothing in the scanner traffic said this was a backyard bonfire. We don't make stuff up. An incident is described the way it is described by those with awareness of it and we report off the scanner accordingly.

You can always fine tune something -- even poetry -- after the fact, but that is not the point of posting scanner reports; immediacy of information is key, and accuracy based on the best information at hand.

I hope this helps you understand our task. On a long-hoped-for beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon, Howard was not grasping at some minute detail to make this site "cooler."

It is already is.

Thus, creatively describing something as a "backyard bonfire" versus a brush fire -- which was the pilot's and therefore the dispatcher's actual term -- would be inaccurate and unwise.

Our site is updated when there's new information; so we posted that residents were burning sticks in their backyard (BTW, illegally this time of year) as soon as we knew that to be the case.

If you get a scanner and attach it to your PERSON and listen to it 24/7 for a decade, it might be possible to glean some clarity as regards the mechanics of local news reportage, vis-a-vis the scanner. Hope this is helpful for you.

Apr 22, 2018, 11:17pm Permalink

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