Same old stuff

A Monday morning blaze inside a West Side pool supply company appeared under control until hard-to-reach flames ignited some plastic and rubber products and turned the fire into a three-alarm inferno that poured heavy, acrid smoke deep into the northwest section of the city for much of the afternoon and evening.

At least two Buffalo firefighters were confirmed to have been taken to Erie County Medical Center with smoke inhalation by about 9 p. m. Monday. Several others also were reported to have sought treatment.

The pesky two-alarm blaze broke out just before 11 a. m. on the third floor at Leisure Living, a multibuilding complex perched above the Niagara Thruway at 1130 Niagara St.

Buffalo Fire Commissioner Michael Lombardo said the fire appears to have started in a pool supply area in the southwest corner of the three-story brick warehouse building. The cause was still unknown late Monday. The building formerly housed the Curtis Screw Co.

"When we got here, there were very heavy flames shooting from the third floor of the [back] of the building," Lombardo said. "It was a very tremendous fight for a while."

About 20 employees were evacuated safely. One person originally unaccounted for later turned up unharmed, Lombardo said.

Firefighters met the blaze with an interior attack early on but later, after it became unsafe to continue, were forced to battle the fire from outside the building.

The fire commissioner said the flames were declared "under control" just after noon, but the initial blaze was never extinguished.

A burning area of the building had collapsed and spread into an area containing plastic and rubber pool products. The hard-to-reach flames quickly accelerated into a much larger and dangerous inferno, prompting the third-alarm shortly after 3 p. m.

"It just hit an area that was very flammable and took off very rapidly," said Lombardo. "The fire literally outraced us."

Fed by the collapsed combustibles and the hot-burning plastic and rubber products, as well as a sustained breeze off Lake Erie, the blaze burned uncontrollably and rushed a continuous stream of smoke into the neighborhood, north into Black Rock and beyond.

Numerous pool chemicals on the second floor of the building that fire officials were able to protect in the initial battle became involved in the larger afternoon fire.

Lombardo said the fire did involve some "pool-type" chemicals inside the building, presumably chlorine, that quickly were consumed in the blaze. At several points in the late afternoon hours, a gray-yellow cloud of smoke could be seen billowing into the air.

Fire officials urged residents to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.

The breeze hurt firefighters' efforts to contain the fire, but Lombardo said it also helped push and dissipate the smoke from the scene more efficiently. No official evacuations were reported in the neighborhood.

In all, nine of the city's 19 engine companies and six of nine ladder companies were at the scene along with about 80 firefighters, Lombardo said.

Buffalo police closed traffic on Niagara Street between Lafayette and Fargo avenues throughout the rush hour and into the late evening.

Several West Side residents lined the streets surrounding the blaze to catch a glimpse of the firefighting efforts. Others, like Allison Velez of West Avenue, braved the elements around her home. Velez and her family donned respirator masks when the smoke overtook her neighborhood for much of the late morning and afternoon.

"You couldn't really see anything. Everything was foggy," Velez said. "It was all day. It really stank."

Travel also became an issue into the evening. The northbound section of the Niagara Thruway was shut down about 7:45 p. m. between Porter Avenue and the Scajaquada Expressway as the force of water from the fire hoses started dislodging some of the charred building's brick work. Train travel also was interrupted.