West Seneca · Transit Road · Working Fire

Firefighters Pull a Small Child From a Smoke-Filled Transit Road Basement

A basement fire with heavy smoke sent West Seneca crews into a Transit Road home late last night to get a small child out.

Yesterday at 11:34 PM, West Seneca fire units were dispatched to 1988 Transit Road for a fire alarm activation that quickly turned into a possible basement fire, with visible smoke reported.

Within minutes, dispatch relayed to patrol that crews were working to get a small child out of the building through heavy smoke — "you are working on getting a small child out of the building." The response ran across multiple alerts as companies ventilated the home.

Cheektowaga · Andrews Street · Barricade

Man Barricades Himself on Andrews Street After Saying He Shot His Girlfriend

A caller told Cheektowaga dispatch he had shot his pregnant girlfriend, then refused to disarm and threatened to open fire if officers came in.

Overnight, around 3:39 AM, a man called Cheektowaga police to 50 Andrews Street and reported he had shot his pregnant girlfriend, identified on dispatch as Jessica.

Dispatch described the man as barricaded, refusing to disarm and threatening to fire on anyone who entered. A separate welfare check next door at 49 Andrews, prompted by a caller from New York City, added confusion as officers sorted upper and lower units. The situation was still active as the call moved off the channel.

Buffalo · Bush Street · Structure Fire

Vacant Bush Street House Burns With Accelerant Present, Drawing an Arson Look

A two-story wood frame, believed vacant, caught fire late last night, and crews found a first-floor bedroom blaze with signs an accelerant had been used.

Yesterday at 11:37 PM, Buffalo firefighters were sent to a structure fire at 80-82 Bush Street, a two-story wood frame that dispatch flagged as possibly vacant, with multiple units responding.

Crews knocked down a small fire in the walls of a first-floor bedroom and reported an accelerant present, keeping the investigation open into the overnight hours. A fire in an empty house with signs of an accelerant is the kind of scene that quickly becomes an arson case.

Salamanca · Wildwood Avenue · Structure Fire

Flames From an Upstairs Window Bring Mutual Aid to a Salamanca Home

A two-story house on Wildwood Avenue showed fire and smoke from an upstairs window yesterday afternoon, pulling in mutual-aid companies.

Yesterday at 4:31 PM, Salamanca fire crews were called to a structure fire at 593 Wildwood Avenue, a two-story building with flames and smoke visible from an upstairs window.

The visible fire prompted a mutual-aid activation as companies moved in to knock it down. The response ran through the late afternoon before clearing the channel.

Cheektowaga · Glenwood Court · Domestic

Overnight Glenwood Court Domestic Ends With a Knife Cut and a Foot Chase

A woman was heard yelling with things thrown before a man turned up cut with a knife and she fled the apartment on foot, drawing officers from two departments.

Early this morning, around 5:37 AM, Cheektowaga and Amherst officers responded to a domestic at 17 Glenwood Court, Apartment B, after a caller reported a woman yelling and items being thrown.

Dispatch relayed that a man had been cut with a knife and the woman had fled on foot, sending units searching the area. The incident stayed active as it moved off the channel.

Amherst · Peppertree Drive · Welfare Check

A Week of AC Hum and Flies Behind a Locked Peppertree Door Raises Fears of a Body

A neighbor's report of a week-long air conditioner, drawn curtains and black flies at the window sent Amherst officers to check an apartment.

Yesterday at 4:51 PM, Amherst police were sent to a welfare check at 219 Peppertree Drive after a neighbor calling from apartment 217 reported unmistakable warning signs at a nearby unit.

The caller told dispatch the air conditioner had been running for a week, the curtains had not opened, and black flies were visible throughout the window — details officers noted as consistent with a possible death inside. No confirmation crossed the air before the call moved off the channel.

Cattaraugus County · Route 242 · Stolen Truck Pursuit

Drunk Driver Steals a Pickup, Leads Its Own Owner on a Chase Toward Randolph

An intoxicated man made off with a red pickup while the truck's owner gave chase, running down Route 242 before deputies recovered the vehicle.

Yesterday at 10:08 PM, the Cattaraugus County Sheriff's Office worked a stolen-vehicle report in which an intoxicated man made off with a red pickup truck and fled, with the caller pursuing him toward Randolph on Route 242.

Deputies recovered the truck near the Allegheny junction, where two victims wanted to press charges while a third was described as intoxicated and uncooperative. The pursuit resolved within the hour.

Buffalo · East Side · Dispatch Wit

The Brady Bunch Is Back Together — Now About That Alarm

After a chaotic afternoon of missing kids and a hundred-strong street fight, a Buffalo officer marked the reunion with a sitcom shout-out.

Yesterday afternoon, Buffalo's C-E districts ran ragged — a search for missing children, an accident that turned out not to be one, and a crowd of some 50 kids swarming a fight near Main and Utica that toppled an elderly man.

As the scattered cars finally came back together, one officer keyed up with the only status update that mattered: "Now that the Brady Bunch is back together, would you like me to grab that alarm over at 1333 Genesee for you?"

Cheektowaga · Little Caesars · Off-Menu Request

Hold the Sirens, Pass the Pizza: A Station-House Little Caesars Run

Somewhere in the overnight paperwork, a request came across the air that had nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with dinner.

Just after midnight, amid the usual overnight churn, Cheektowaga dispatch relayed a request of a decidedly non-emergency nature: could a car swing a couple of Little Caesars pizzas over to the station?

It went out in earnest, deadpan, over the same channel that had carried domestics and alarms all night — proof that even at 12:34 AM, somebody has to think about crazy bread.

Thruway · Tow Logistics · Ramp Riddle

The A-Ram to 90 Eastbound: A Tow-Truck Geometry Lesson

Getting an abandoned black BMW off the ramp was less about the car than about which sliver of interchange the wrecker should thread.

Yesterday evening, a Thruway patrol hunted for an abandoned black BMW parked where the 400 feeds the 90 eastbound, spotting it first on the cameras before working out how to fetch it.

The verdict, delivered with the confidence of a man who knows his ramps: "It's probably easier for the tow to go on the 400 to the A-Ram to 90 eastbound than the right shoulder." A masterclass in interchange navigation nobody asked for.

Wyoming County · Fire Family · In Memoriam

A Fire Company Says Goodbye to One of Its Own Over the Air

Between the routine tones, a Wyoming County channel carried a quieter kind of dispatch — the passing of a 20-year firefighter.

Yesterday at 5:58 PM, Wyoming County Fire keyed up not for a call but for a colleague, announcing the passing of 20-year member Dan McCormick to the monitors that carry the county's traffic.

Firefighters were asked to assemble Friday at the fire station in full dress uniform for the service — the department's own family, using the same radio that summons them to fires to see one of their own off.

Chautauqua County · Fire Standby · Stand Down

We'll Stand Down — Most of the Time

A kitchen fire knocked down, Chautauqua crews waved off the reserves with a shrug that said everything about the job.

Yesterday at 10:26 PM, after a kitchen fire on Route 60 was put out — an object had toppled onto a lit candle on a stove — Chautauqua crews were asked whether they wanted extra companies to stand by.

The reply carried the weary philosophy of the trade: "Nah, we should be all set. Yep, we'll stand down most of the time." Most of the time being about as much certainty as a night on the wires allows.

Kenmore · Physical Domestic

Intoxicated Westwood Drive Woman Bites Man She's Accused of Hitting

Yesterday at 11:11 PM, Tonawanda Police sent units to 66 Westwood Drive, between Millwood and Sunset, on a report described as “a physical domestic, an intoxicated female hitting the male complainant”.

Dispatch added moments later that the woman had also bitten the man, who declined EMS at the scene.

Buffalo · Structure Fire

Buffalo Fire Escalates East Delavan Smoke Call to Full Box, Then Stands Most Units Down

Yesterday at 4:54 PM, Buffalo Fire put out a Level 3 still alarm — Ladder 7 and B47 — to 706 East Delavan Avenue between Amsterdam Avenue and Birch Place on a report of smoke coming from a window of a two-and-a-half-story frame two-family; the caller saw no flames and wasn't sure whether anyone was home.

Engine 33 arrived to find “light haze”, then upgraded moments later to “smoke showing” on the first floor and called for the balance of the box, sending South French 34, Ladder 14, Ladder 6, Rescue 1, and five additional companies to the scene.

Within minutes, though, command radioed crews “back and down” and released all but Engine 33, Engine 23 and Truck 7 back to service, with the cause of the haze not stated on the air.

Buffalo · Main Street Melee

About 100 Teens Brawl at Main and Utica, Drawing Heavy Police Response

Yesterday at 5:24 PM, Buffalo Police radioed for more cars at Main Street and Utica Street as a large group of teenagers — described on the air as “about a hundred kids out here” — kept a fight going near the intersection.

Additional units converged from several sectors as dispatch tracked a second disturbance breaking out nearby, and by 5:25 PM one officer radioed that he was transporting a female from the scene to the East District station.

Buffalo · Domestic Dispute

Woman Runs Over Boyfriend With Car in Oakmont Domestic

Early this morning at 1:22 AM, Buffalo Fire dispatched Engine 23 to 242 Oakmont Avenue, between Tower Avenue and Kenfield Avenue, on a report of a pedestrian struck.

Arriving crews initially told dispatch they weren't seeing anything going on, but were told the run was “an active domestic. A woman ran over a male with a car”, with the man reportedly down in the street and police en route.

Depew · Vehicle Break-In

Overnight Car Break-In on Transit Road Takes Handgun From Locked Box

Yesterday evening at 8:38 PM, Depew Police were sent to 59 Transit Road[*] [heard: Fitford Transit Road], one building south of the Depew Express station, after the owner reported a break-in to a vehicle overnight.

Dispatch advised that the theft took cash, a chain and a handgun that had been kept in a locked box inside the vehicle.