Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo Fire crews responded to multiple calls of a large fire behind the historic Central Terminal late Monday night at around 9:20 p.m. ET.
"Crews arrived there and wound up going to a second alarm. The fire was [towards] the rear of the Central Terminal," said Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo on Tuesday. "H&R Construction site, it's their own site that they own, and the fire mostly consisted of tires, a lot of construction debris, things of that nature."
Listen Live to WBEN
The second alarm call was quickly activated by firefighters with calls to 1 Milburn Street and 495 Paderewski Drive. As Commissioner Renaldo explained, the call for the second alarm was most because they had to relay water a considerable distance to battle to blaze.
"The hydrants in that area are low volume. That took some time, and it took some extra apparatus to accomplish that task," he said.
Buffalo Fire also needed to use aerial ladders to put out the difficult to reach fire.
For President of Dyngus Day Buffalo, Eddy Dobosiewicz, he was working later at his office and just on his way home when his phone blew up with the reported fire at Central Terminal.
"I started getting calls and texts from people, social media posts that the Central Terminal was on fire, so I turned around quickly," said Dobosiewicz on Tuesday. "Luckily, my office is near the Central Terminal, so I didn't have far to go. But when I got here, I didn't see anything at all, honestly. I started driving around, someone then said it's behind the Central Terminal. So I drove around the block, and saw, off in the distance, some red flashing lights. As I walked further, I could see there were flames and smoke, and firefighting equipment in action."
Crews were called back again Tuesday morning shortly after 9 a.m. ET, as the fire was still smoldering.
"We're attempting right now to break down that pile using H&R Construction equipment, excavators, things of that nature," Commissioner Renaldo said. "So other equipment being used is H&R equipment, excavators, things of that nature. They're working to take that pile apart so we can get better access to it, and get water to the scene of the fire."
Dobosiewicz best described the location of the fire as being towards the end of the furthest railroad platform from the Central Terminal. The railroad platforms were where people would board the trains and disembark and their travels.
"It was literally about a football field away from the Central Terminal. In fact, I tried to take pictures of the Terminal with the fire going on in the same frame, and I couldn't do it. That's how far away the flames and damage were from the actual building," Dobosiewicz said. "The building didn't appear to be in any danger, as far as I could see."
While Dobosiewicz can't speak for anyone with the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation, he doesn't think the Terminal is in any danger when it comes to any potential threat of a massive fire. He feels the Terminal hasn't been in any danger from anything like this, and I doesn't think it will be in the future.
"The Central Terminal Restoration Corporation has taken great steps in securing the building, making it safe, keeping vandals away, any urban explorers," Dobosiewicz said. "I mean, there's fencing that's been put up, security systems, things of that nature. So the building, itself, is pretty secure, from what I understand. The CTRC has done a remarkable job of stabilizing the building, and are now working to restore the building."
Fire officials say damage is estimated at $50,000. Commissioner Renaldo believes the fire is suspicious in nature, but the cause is still under investigation.
Related
