A small grassfire is reported in Bethany at 5563 Broadway (Rte. 20), between East and Transit roads.
A brush truck from Bethany Fire Department is requested.
UPDATE (9:47 p.m.): Fire is out. Bethany fire units are back in service.
A garage fire was called in several minutes ago at a residence on Route 19 near Cole Road in the Pavilion/Le Roy area.
It sounds like both Pavilion and Le Roy fire departments have responded.
UPDATE 9:35 p.m.: Le Roy Fire back in service.
A grassfire is reported on Marble Road, near Akron Road. Pembroke and Indian Falls fire departments are responding.
UPDATE (3:22 p.m.): The little fire has burnt itself out. Alabama fire helped out and got to the scene first. The units from Pembroke and Indian Falls were held back and now Alabama is returning to quarters.
A fire inside a "utility trailer" is reported at 5989 Oak Orchard Road in Elba. It is off the roadway.
Elba Fire Department is responding.
A piece of farm equipment being driven on Quaker Hill Road is reported to be sparking, causing several small brushfires along the roadside as it heads down the roadway. The driver, apparently, is oblivious.
Several calls came in reporting the incident in the vicinity of 6054 Quaker Hill Road. The equipment is still traveling along. Orleans County is being notified.
Elba Fire Department is called to respond.
UPDATE (2:25 p.m.): In the 5000 block of Quaker Hill Road there is reportedly a large brushfire now, heading into the woods.
UPDATE (2:30 p.m.): All Elba manpower and equipment is ordered to Route 19 and the Genesee-Orleans county line to fight the brushfires.
UPDATE (2:52 p.m.): The brushfires were pronounced out a few minutes ago. Fire police are holding traffic until the fire trucks and their equipment can be packed up and leave the scene.
UPDATE (3:06 p.m.): The road is open, the units are back in service, and the volunteers firefighters are en route to the Pizza Pantry in Corfu.
A small brushfire is reported at the softball field behind the Byron Fire Station. A crew is requested from the Byron Volunteer Fire Department to go to the station and deploy its brush truck to put out the blaze.
UPDATE (12:33 p.m.): The fire is out and the Byron Fire Department is ready for service.
An electrical fire is reported in the basement of a house at 13 Walnut St. in the City of Batavia. The occupants have been evacuated and there is smoke coming from the building.
City Fire Department is on scene.
UPDATE (2:33 p.m.): The fire is knocked down. National Grid has been notified about the problem inside the electrical fuse box. Firefighters are "checking the extensions upstairs."
UPDATE (by Howard): Julie Worthington and Mary Kay Mayeu were sitting at the dining room table talking when they heard some loud buzzing pops and the lights flickered. Mayeu told Worthington she better get the kids out of the house.
"I think there's something going on downstairs," Mayeu said she told Worthington. "I looked downstairs and I could see flames. You couldn't see past the water heater, but you could see a yellow presence."
At that point, Worthington said, the smoke detectors hadn't even started beeping.
"We were actually out of the house before the alarms started going off," Worthington said.
A mechanical Halloween display at Boces malfunctioned and caught fire about 15 minutes ago. People at the school, located at 8250 State St. Road in Batavia, put the fire out. A fire engine from the City of Batavia was called in, nonemergency mode, to check out the situation and ensure all is safe.
A tractor-trailer on the Thruway reportedly struck a deer and its brakes caught on fire.
The driver tried to extinguish the fire, but could not.
Le Roy Fire is being dispatched.
The truck is parked about 100 yards from the toll booth.
UPDATE 11:15 p.m.: Le Roy Fire went back in service about five minutes ago.
A pole fire has been reported in the area of Route 33 and Upton Road, Batavia.
East Pembroke Fire has responded.
A fire in a Dumpster is reported at 8468 Seven Springs Road, toward the Clinton Street end. There is heavy smoke.
Town of Batavia and Stafford Fire departments are responding.
A fire is reported inside the maintenance shop of the Stafford Country Club. The shop is located off Route 5, just east of Route 237.
Stafford and Pavilion fire departments are responding, along with tankers from the Town of Batavia and fire police from Le Roy. South Byron fire is to fill in at the station for Stafford.
There is heavy smoke inside the structure.
UPDATE (5:53 p.m.): Firefighters are warned that there are chemicals stored inside the northeast end of the building. A firefighter says one piece of machinery is on fire but it is almost out. The roof does not need ventilating at this time.
UPDATE (5:57 p.m.): They are going to vent the north end of the building.
UPDATE (6:02 p.m.): The fire is confirmed to be contained to one piece of machinery and it has been dragged outside. Everything is under control. They are releasing some equipment to go back in service.
City Fire is being dispatched to Washington Avenue in the area of Summit Street, where a transformer reportedly sparked and is now smoking.
UPDATE 9:50 a.m.: No fire, but there is a problem with a wire. National Grid requested to the scene.
A fire with flames showing is reported at 214 East Main St. in the City of Batavia. It's at the rear of Topline Shirt Co. and an owner reports it's an oven fire. City fire and Mercy EMS are on site.
UPDATE (6:40 p.m.): City fire command reports fire is out.
Investigators have yet to determine what sparked a fire that destroyed a rooming house Monday at 433 E. Main St., Batavia.
With no cause uncovered at this point, it's hard to say when investigators will be able to determine how the fire started, according to Lt. Jay Steinbrenner of the Batavia Fire Department.
The investigation remains ongoing.
There's no further information available on the investigation at this time.
Today investigators are expected to return to the scene of last night's rooming house fire at 433 E. Main St., Batavia.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Eleven people lost their living space and all of their belongings in the fire.
The interior was completely gutted. On the west side, the second and third floors are completely gone.
Previous coverage:
A smoke detector helped alert residents that a fire was smoldering inside a rooming house at 433 E. Main St., Batavia.
"My wife heard a beeping noise and she smelled smoke," said resident Joe Allegue. "We opened the door, we’re in apartment 11, and the black smoke just billowed right into the room and covered us."
Allegue said he started yelling, "Fire," and got his wife out then called 9-1-1.
The basement fire was reported to Genesee County Dispatch at 4:16 p.m., and the first city crews were on scene within minutes. Smoke was already billowing from the basement and working its way up to the second and third floors.
Firefighters faced some significant structural obstacles in fighting the fire, according to Chief James Maxwell, which eventually forced firefighters to withdraw from the interior of the complex.
"We made several attempts at the basement, but by that time, it was already on the first and second floors," Maxwell said. "The way the interior structure was portioned with the different apartments, we were just chasing it around from room to room. Eventually it got in the attic, so at that point, the safest option was to go to a defensive operation."
The city already had Ladder Truck 15 on scene, pouring water on the roof from the southwest corner of the building. Town of Batavia's Ladder Truck 25 was brought to the scene to attack the fire from the rear roof area.
According to tax records, the structure was built in 1950. That was near the end of the use of balloon-framing construction in the United States, according to Wikipedia.
In balloon framing, the walls of a building are continuously open from the basement to the attic, making it easier for a fire to climb quickly up the interior of the walls.
The building is a total loss. Fire crews were still on scene at midnight, with active firefighting lasting at least five hours.
At 11 p.m., investigators were calling for water to be pumped from the basement so they could begin the work of trying to determine the cause of the fire.
Eleven people living in eight boarding rooms and two apartments were displaced by the fire.
That's the hardest part said property owner Terry Platt. While the nature of insurance on this type of rental property means he may never fully recover the financial loss, it's sad, he said, seeing his tenants go through something like this.
"They’re the type of residents who really can’t afford the insurance to be able to cover all of their contents and of course they’re going to lose everything now," said Platt, who acquired the property in 1990. "That’s the worst part. It’s just sad. The rest of it is just a big headache, but it’s worse for all the tenants. They’re walking out with no shoes on their feet. It’s just sad to see that happen."
Platt said the loan on the property was nearly paid off and once it was, he was going to be able to invest in upgrades to the apartments.
Within hours of the fire being reported, Red Cross officials were beginning to assist residents in finding temporary housing, but Platt said there's a shortage of rooming houses available at the rate his tenants could afford to pay -- he was charging from $75 to $85 per week -- so finding long-term housing for many of the residents could prove difficult.
All 11 residents were safely accounted for within two hours of the fire being reported. At one point, one resident was thought to possibly still be in an apartment. The inset picture is of Platt trying to recall, so he could tell a firefighter, the best way to get to the apartment.
Doug Yeomans also submitted a series of photos from the fire.
Disclosure: Terry Platt is my landlord.
More pictures after the jump:
An alarm system and quick response from the Batavia City Fire Department saved a home on East Avenue from destruction tonight when a fire started in the kitchen while the homeowners were away.
The alarm came in at 7:41 p.m. at 224 East Ave., Batavia, and when firefighters arrived on scene, according to Capt. Craig Williams, the inferno building inside wasn't obvious.
"When pulled up we could hear an audible alarm sounding but couldn’t see any smoke," Williams said. "There was nobody home at the time. It was closed up tight. When we went to the front door, we could smell something burning inside and we could see steam on the inside of all the windows, so it was pretty hot in there."
During an exterior check of the house, a firefighter saw flames through a rear window, so crews broke in through the front door.
The kitchen was quickly fully involved and firefighters began beating back the flames from a front window, pushing the fire toward the back of the house.
Chief James Maxwell credited the crews with a quick, strategic response for saving the structure. As rapidly as fire can spread, without either the alarm or the fast response, the whole structure could have become engulfed quickly.
The home, owned by Jeffery and Rebecca Oshlag, suffered $30,000 damage from what is officially classified as an accidental fire.
The kitchen was destroyed and there was heavy smoke and heat damage throughout the house.
Two cats survived the fire. One suffered from smoke inhalation and was taken to a veterinary clinic. It is expected to survive. (NOTE: See comment below from Rachel Oshlag -- one of the cats, an orange tabby, is still missing. Rachel believes it's in the neighborhood someplace.)
Rebecca Oshlag said she was grateful for the alarm system and the quick response from the fire department.
She also praised Nancy Nickerson and Sean Valdes, owners of the D&R Depot in Le Roy, where she and her husband were having dinner.
She said they had just sat down when Jeffery received the call about the fire alarm. Thinking that it was a false alarm, Jeffery hopped in his car and headed toward the house, planning to return to dinner.
When they found out it was a real fire, Rebecca said she approached Nancy and said she had a problem -- there was a fire at her house and Jeffery had already left. Sean drove Rebecca home.
"It was wonderful, wonderful help from the Depot," Rebecca said. "It's one of the advantages of small-town living."
Photo: Submitted by a reader.
A fire is reported at a residence at 224 East Ave. in the City of Batavia.
City firefighters and Mercy medics are responding following a fire alarm there. A second fire platoon is requested to standby in headquarters. Batavia police are helping with traffic control.
National Grid is being notified about the incident, but no other details have yet been reported. The occupants are not home.
UPDATE (7:57 p.m.): The fourth platoon is requested to standby in headquarters and the second platoon is called to the scene. It is reportedly a fully involved kitchen fire.
UPDATE (8 p.m.): Firefighters on scene are told to come in through the back sliding glass doors. The homeowner is en route according to the alarm company.
UPDATE (8:03 p.m.): The fire is "knocked down." National Grid is expected momentarily. Traffic barricades are soon to be delivered.
UPDATE (8:07 p.m.): The homeowners are on scene. One cat has been rescued, but firefighters are told there's another one still inside the home.
UPDATE (8:19 p.m.): The firefighters are now doing "overhaul" to ensure the fire's complete extinction.
A possible barn fire has been reported in the area of 602 Cohocton Road, Corfu.
Pembroke and Indian Falls fire have been dispatched.
UPDATE 10:20 a.m.: An assistant chief on scene says it was a small fire and appears to be out. Units told to come in non-emergency.
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