The WNY Listening Post

Western New York’s Scanner-Fed Tabloid

Williamsville · Main and North Ellicott

Two-car injury crash shuts down Main Street westbound at North Ellicott

Amherst Fire dispatched an evaluation and PD closed Main Street west of the intersection while a private-tow crew handled an Ontario plate in the wreck

At 23:06, Amherst Fire came up with a two-car motor-vehicle accident at Main Street and North Ellicott Street in the Village of Williamsville. Dispatch initially called it “Winslow Motor Vehicle Accident, Main Street and North…” before locking in the intersection: “Main Street and North Ellicott Street, two cars involved.”

By 23:08, Amherst PD had radioed a responding unit — “I know your way is off, but if you can head to the area of Main and Ellicott for an injury accident, at least two cars reported to be involved” — and Amherst Fire radioed back at 23:10 that it was “two cars, one patient for evaluation”. At 23:12, PD closed Main Street westbound: “Radio, we’re going to have Main Street Westbound lock off.” One of the vehicles carried an Ontario plate.

By 23:15, PD had two vehicles pulled onto the shoulder — “they’re part of the accident” — and one patient was being evaluated. The call cleared without further escalation.

Around the NeighborhoodThe Northtowns, call by call

Newstead · 67 Maplewood Lane

RESOLVED

Fully involved EV catches next to a house on Maplewood Lane, drawing Newstead, Akron, and Clarence Center mutual aid

Amherst Fire Dispatch confirmed the burning car was electric — “Hey everybody, this is an EV vehicle” — as crews shifted tactics and pulled in tanker support

At 21:37, Amherst Fire Dispatch put a call out on Amherst-Clarence for “a quarter of a vehicle fire extending into 67” — a car fire spreading into 67 Maplewood Lane with exposure to another vehicle. Newstead 71 was on the road within two minutes, and by 21:39 dispatch had confirmed it: “2 is on location. Fully involved car fire”.

The complication arrived at 21:42 with a single line on the trunk: “Hey everybody, this is an EV vehicle”. Battery packs in a burning EV force a different playbook — more water, longer soak, and a wary eye on stranded energy — and 391 immediately asked crews to “finish the way up so we can start off” for air supply. Amherst 106 and Newstead 2 responded, with Newstead 2 called on to charge the red line and Clarence Ladder acknowledged into the run.

Akron 4 rolled in on channel 2, and Amherst PD reported a large branch back to a tree “blocking half the roadway” in the vicinity, complicating access. The full run wound down as an EV incident with structure exposure; no injury reports came over the air.

Amherst · 554 Allenhurst

RESOLVED

APS-triggered welfare check on Allenhurst with a language barrier and an out-of-town daughter as translator

At 15:18, Amherst PD took a welfare check at 554 Allenhurst generated by Adult Protective Services. The dispatch narration laid out the concern directly: “he’s become very aggressive and physically abusive towards his wife”. Dispatch advised responders that the wife did not speak English but the couple’s daughter, out of town, could translate by phone.

PD asked for a B-Boy backer and pulled all available APS notes off the CAD, then closed the address once the initial contact was made. Units cleared shortly after without further public detail.

Amherst · Kennewood Suites

RESOLVED

Mulch fire at Kennewood Suites off Millersport dies down before it becomes a problem

At 19:10, Amherst Fire Dispatch confirmed a mulch fire at 20 Flint Road at Kennewood Suites, near the senior-border line at Millersport Highway. A common enough pre-holiday hazard in dry weather: a cigarette or a spark hits landscaping mulch and it smolders its way toward a building. Units held it to the mulch bed and cleared without escalation.

Amherst · 263 Paradise

ONGOING

Attempt to locate an 85-year-old man whose car sits in the driveway but who cannot be found

At 17:30, Amherst PD put out an attempt-to-locate for an 85-year-old man from 263 Paradise. The complainant said his car was in the driveway but he was nowhere to be found. Dispatch gave the description: “an 85-year-old white male wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and khaki shorts”, no known memory issues. Units cleared the call without a same-window resolution on the air.

Amherst · Choking infant

RESOLVED

Reported infant choking becomes a routine transport as the baby is confirmed breathing on scene

At 20:57, Amherst Fire Dispatch put out a report of a choking child. The status flipped fast: “The child is choking, however is that confirmed — the baby is breathing”. Amber 32-051, a fire unit, Anchor 207 and 5-1 all rolled with lights and sirens.

By 21:04, dispatch was in the clear: “Baby is breathing well, holding with units on scene.” A parent’s worst three minutes; the radio went from priority to routine.


Overheard: The WiresCops, cabbies, custodians, dispatchers — off-script

Buffalo · BFD Ch1, 22:04

“No shooting. It was fireworks.” — the six-word summary of every WNY dispatcher’s July 3rd shift

At 22:04, on BFD Ch1, the dispatcher pushed one line into the tape that captures the entire day-before-the-Fourth: “No shooting. It was fireworks.”. It is the sound of Buffalo Fire Ch1 telling every citizen who dialed 911 that the boom they heard from their porch was, in fact, the neighbor’s Roman candle — delivered with the practiced flatness of a dispatcher who has already answered that question a dozen times tonight and expects to answer it a dozen more before dawn.

Amherst · Amherst Fire, 17:44

Ten baby ducks pulled from an Amherst storm drain

At 17:44, Amherst Fire Dispatch cleared a call with the sort of line that gets a whole room of dispatchers to look up from their screens: “10 baby ducks were recovered out of the storm drain there”. The classic WNY hazmat: a mama mallard leads her brood across a parking lot, the ducklings pour down a storm-drain grate one after another, and the fire company arrives with a net and a bucket. Ten recovered, all accounted for. Reunification with the hen was not narrated on the trunk.

Amherst · 505 Mill Street, 21:47

Two hundred at an outdoor basketball game at Mill Street; Amherst PD moves in to “facilitate these knuckleheads getting out of here”

At 21:47, an Amherst PD unit came on the air with a scene report from 505 Mill Street: “about 200 people on location for an outdoor basketball game. There’s a group arguing and yelling”, called in on a 911-only phone by a caller “extremely hard to understand.” Not a fight, not a felony — 200 people, an outdoor basketball game, and a group in the corner escalating.

By 21:51, unit 16 was on location, and the tactical call went out with the plain-English clarity that scanner listeners love: “16 to the cars here. Let’s just rally up by one side of the lot here and facilitate these knuckleheads getting out of here”. Dispersal, not arrests. Everyone home before the fireworks.

Cheektowaga · Cheektowaga PD, 15:06

“Now the baby somehow hit the lock button”: Cheektowaga’s afternoon lockout, narrated in one sentence

At 15:06, a Cheektowaga PD unit filed the world’s most efficient incident narrative on Cheektwga PD 1: “Now the baby somehow hit the lock button”. A parent stood at a car door on a 90-degree afternoon while the baby, still inside, mashed the console until the doors clicked. AAA, dispatchers, and every parent listening felt that one in the chest.

Amherst · 190 Roxbury, 01:09

“He doesn’t know that he lives here”: a two-line window into the Amherst overnight welfare shift

At 01:09, an Amherst PD unit stood at a house on 190 Roxbury and radioed back a status report of quiet compassion. The CAD had “an abundance of history” at the address dating back to 2017, “nothing relating to dementia or mental related, though”. Then: “He’s very, very confused. He doesn’t know that he lives here, so just trying to work with him”. Not a crime. Not a call anyone wanted to close on a report. Just a man in his own living room who no longer recognized it, and a patrol officer sitting with him at one in the morning.

Amherst · Parking Enforcement, 16:38

Amherst Parking Enforcement rolls up on a basketball-court block party: “I need everything tagged over there”

At 16:38, Amherst Parking Enforcement dispatched a unit to a basketball court where the pickup game had — as pickup games do — spilled into the landscape: “There’s a bunch of vehicles on the lawn, in the driveway, blocking access. I need everything tagged over there, please”. The tone on the trunk was that of a small-town parking authority accepting its role in the summer social contract with a shrug and a citation pad. “Let me know if you want police assistance” was the dispatch backstop; none was requested.


Regional BlotterBeyond the Northtowns — WNY at large

Alden · Crittenden · Buffalo Tournament Club

RESOLVED

Automatic mutual aid to a kitchen fire at the Buffalo Tournament Club in Crittenden

At 17:29, Lancaster FD Dispatch on the Amherst-Clarence trunk relayed automatic mutual aid to Crittenden for a kitchen fire at the Buffalo Tournament Club, 1100 Genesee Street. The dispatch language moved between “1100 Tennessee” and “1100 Genesee” on repeat before locking in the correct one; the same address on the same road in Alden. Millgrove Automatic Control took the run; East Amherst FD stood off and “handle that if they’d like” per EAFD Dispatch. Small kitchen fire, contained to the source without further escalation on the air.

Amherst / Cheektowaga · NYSP pursuit

ONGOING

State Police pursue a stolen Ford Explorer northbound on Harlem Road from Kensington

At 19:21, Amherst PD came up on the Amherst-Clarence trunk to relay to their own patrols what State Police were putting out on a separate channel: “state police are chasing that stolen vehicle put out on chat, that Ford Explorer — northbound Harlem, I believe, from Kensington”. The plate and vehicle were already on chat. Amherst units in the area held position; no follow-up broadcast on the outcome came across the AM window.

Lake Erie · Turkey Point · Coast Guard nav warning

ONGOING

Coast Guard cycles a natural-gas-leak advisory for Lake Erie’s Turkey Point every hour through the overnight

Beginning at 04:53 and repeating hourly through 06:51, the Coast Guard’s Marine 21 broadcast a Navigational Warning — Charlie GAS 2725-26 — for a natural gas leak on Lake Erie at Turkey Point (42°40.212′ N, 080°15.285′ W, the Canadian shore). “Mariners are requested to stay clear of the area — toxic and flammable gas may be present”. WNY boaters headed north for the holiday weekend heard the same 30-second loop cycle all night on VHF.

Other Calls of Note

[17:09]NYSTA · Exit 45 Two-vehicle MVA on the Thruway at Exit 45, blue Subaru Impreza versus a white Ford Fusion; NYSTA 571 out with it and moving the vehicles to the shoulder.
[17:04]Boston · 9963 South Main Erie County countywide EMS dispatched to 9963 South Main Street for an MVA involving a motorcycle.
[19:33]Amherst · 116 Telfair Hit-and-run at 116 Telfair Drive — a contractor’s truck backed into a car parked on the street and drove off; neighbors witnessed and gave the description.
[04:48]Amherst · 4950 Harlem Road Overnight shoplifting; suspect fled in a newer Buick SUV with a reported plate of Frank-Willie-Sam 6216 (flat plate).
[18:37]Amherst · Courtyard by Marriott An unruly customer at the Courtyard by Marriott, 4100 Sheridan Drive, locked himself in the back office after yelling at the front desk; PD sent a backer plus a cover unit.
[17:34]Amherst · 44 Richfield Drive Residential alarm activation with a living-room motion sensor as the source; PD cleared the address without incident.
[21:55]Amherst · Cyrus Drive off Sweet Home Amherst Fire dispatched EMS to Cyrus Drive between Sweet Home Road and Bloor Drive for a 70-year-old female with chest pain and a cardiac history; breathing on arrival.
[21:18]Niagara County · Ransomville Road National Grid crews re-energized a portion of feeder 8-9-6-4 on Ransomville Road from the recloser at pole 128 — planned utility work rather than an outage.

Editor’s Note

The overnight window into July 3 stayed quiet at street level under a Heat Advisory, but the radio never stopped: Marine 21 spent every hour after midnight cycling a Coast Guard natural-gas-leak warning for Lake Erie’s Turkey Point across VHF, pushing 05:00–06:00 to the busiest hour by segment count. In the Village, a two-car injury MVA closed Main Street westbound at North Ellicott around 23:06. Earlier, an EV catches fire next to a house on Maplewood Lane and draws Newstead, Akron, and Clarence Center mutual aid. And on the Buffalo trunk at 22:04, six words that always mean July 3: “No shooting. It was fireworks.”

Daily Gem

No shooting. It was fireworks.”

— BFD Ch1 Dispatch, 22:04

By the Numbers

Segments
3,202
Active systems
25
Busiest hour
05:00–06:00 (Marine 21 nav-warning loop)
Regional Breaking
0
Updates
0
By Agency (top 5)
BucketSegs
Rail / maritime1478
Police620
Fire / EMS502
Hotel / shuttle / taxi130
Airport / aviation90
By Area (top 5)
BucketSegs
Williamsville & Amherst720
Buffalo145
Cheektowaga / Lancaster / Depew110
Niagara County78
Outer counties (rail / marine / NYSTA)1580

Agency & area buckets are estimated from channel-to-role mappings inferred from the day’s traffic. Marine 21 RX’s overnight loop of NOAA weather and Coast Guard nav warnings inflates the rail/maritime and outer-counties buckets.

The WNY Listening Post · Friday, July 3, 2026 · A.M. Edition · Vol. I, No. 55
Compiled from public radio scanner traffic via the WNY Listening Post automated pipeline. Transcriptions are AI-generated and may contain errors; verify names and details before action.