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The WNY Listening Post

Western New York’s Scanner-Fed Tabloid

Buffalo · North Park · Working Fire

Lightning Strikes House on Parker Street; Attic Burns as Storm Rolls Through

Three adults and a cat displaced; multi-unit response draws six engines and four ladders

At 8:38 PM, as a line of thunderstorms rolled across Erie County, Buffalo Fire Dispatch put out a still alarm for “a house that was struck by lightning is on fire” at 282 Parker, between Huntington and Hertel. The initial run card was heavy: Engine 38, Engine 21, Engine 19, Ladders 4, 6 and 7, Sass Team Rescue 1, and a stack of chiefs.

Ladder 34 arrived first and reported smoke showing. Once fireground opened up, crews described a 2½-story wood frame with fire in the attic and roof; salvage operations ran into the evening.

By the time the incident wrapped, dispatch had logged three adults and one cat displaced. No injuries reported over the air. It was one of at least three storm-related structure calls in the coverage area — lightning also brought down a tree and power line at Sheridan Drive and 5th Avenue in Amherst and lit another tree on Bauman near Renaissance Drive around 9:45 PM.

Top StoriesThe best of the wires — county-wide

West Seneca · Birch Street

RESOLVED

Armed Woman in Pink-and-Purple Dress Draws 40-Minute West Seneca Standoff; Handgun Found in Bushes

Mother phoned in the alarm; officer walked the pistol out of a hedge on Manhasset

At 7:24 PM West Seneca PD went out on a caller-reported “black female standing in the middle of the street… she has a gun in her hand” standing in the middle of the street near 103 Birch and Flann with a pistol in her hand. Dispatch flagged from the start that she was possibly in mental-health crisis; the department had contact with the caller's mother on a neighbor's phone within a couple of minutes.

Neighbors initially told units they hadn't seen anyone matching the description, and the subject moved. At 7:36 PM the mother called back through a neighbor: “she's wearing a pink, white and purple dress”, still in the area. Officers held a perimeter through 8:00 PM, working possible sightings on Manhasset. At 8:06 PM an officer keyed up from the curb: “I'll watch where the end gun is gonna be down here in the bushes… I got it right here”.

The subject was located, detained, and turned over for evaluation. No shots fired; no injuries reported over the air. Radio traffic wound down by 8:15 PM with the handgun in police possession.

Lackawanna · Highview Avenue

RESOLVED

Lackawanna PD Holds Highview Scene Through the Night for Medical Examiner

Death investigation at 95 Highview; detective on scene, cause not stated on the air

Just before 1:40 AM Lackawanna PD dispatch called Car 23 to 95 Highview with a request for assistance from an LSD unit. The call held quietly through the small hours — no additional units, no scene chatter, no obvious sign of the cause on the air.

At 3:45 AM the dispatcher closed the loop: “the M.E. was contacted and did a red line scene and did take possession of the body”, and a detective had done the same. Detective DeSantis was noted on scene. The cause of death was not stated on the radio; the presence of the M.E. and photographs indicates a standard unattended-death protocol rather than an active investigation into wrongdoing.

Amherst · Storm Traffic

RESOLVED

Thunderstorm Floods the Boulevard, Lights Two Trees on Fire Across Amherst

Retaining pond overflows at Niagara Falls Boulevard and Maple; lightning drops lines on Sheridan and Bauman

The same storm cell that lit the Parker Street fire in Buffalo also dumped hard on Amherst. At 8:50 PM Amherst PD reported a tree on fire after a lightning strike at Sheridan Drive and 5th Avenue with a downed power line. Around 9:45 PM Amherst Fire Dis worked a second lightning-triggered tree fire in the 100 block of Bauman near Renaissance Drive, again with power lines involved.

By 9:44 PM the drainage was overwhelmed at Niagara Falls Boulevard and Maple. From an Amherst PD unit on scene: “the retaining pond in front of the mall is overflowing into the boulevard. The right lanes are completely submerged and the entire intersection for Maple and the boulevard is also submerged”. Officers ran traffic through the intersection while the water dropped.

Earlier in the evening, at 5:37 PM, Amherst Fire had already been out at 2550 Sweet Home Road for smoking transformers between Timers Drive and Sunshine Drive — Ellicott Creek investigating one on fire. The transformer, tree and pond calls together made Amherst's evening about weather more than crime.

West Seneca · Wegmans

RESOLVED

Kia Forte Strikes Child on E-Bike in Wegmans Lot; Driver Flees, Located Same Lot

Third-party caller ID'd the plate; black 2016 Kia Forte, KKB-5739

At 5:14 PM a third-party caller told West Seneca dispatch he watched a black 2016 Kia Forte, plate KKB-5739, strike a child on an e-bike in the Wegmans lot at the old St. Bonaventure's property, then leave. Officers found the vehicle in the same lot minutes later.

Buffalo · East Side · Domestic

Woman Unconscious After Domestic Involving a Knife on Landon Street

Police staged before EMS entered

At 6:47 PM Buffalo Fire dispatch called a difficulty-breathing run to 233 Landon, between Wolders and Humboldt, upgraded almost immediately with word that the female patient was unconscious following a domestic dispute involving a knife. Police staged before Fire entered. Radio traffic did not indicate the extent of injuries.

Buffalo · Bailey / East Lovejoy

Child Struck by Motor Vehicle at Bailey and East Lovejoy

Buffalo Fire ran Engine 28 hot

At 6:06 PM Buffalo Fire Dispatch sent Engine 28 to Bailey and East Lovejoy for a child struck by a motor vehicle. Radio traffic offered no age or condition; no follow-up unit chatter was audible in the window.


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

Amherst · Wehrle Drive

Driver Wedged Against Guy Wire in Front of Charlie the Butcher

A car, a telephone pole, and — fittingly — a beef

There is no more Amherst place to have a crash than the parking lot of Charlie the Butcher, so of course that's where somebody put a car on Sunday afternoon. Amherst PD dispatch, 6:33 PM: “you take the injury accident in front of Charlie the Butcher, 1065 Wehrle Drive, it's a car that's stuck on the guide wire telephone pole”. Driver complained of neck injuries. The guy wire held.

Amherst · Walmart 3290 Sheridan

RESOLVED

Cart Blanche: Woman Trespassed From Sheridan Walmart After Employee-vs-Shopping-Cart Assault

“They now have her in the LP office and would like her trespassed”

6:23 PM at the Sheridan Drive Walmart. From Amherst PD dispatch, with the whole story in a single breath: “customer trouble at Walmart, 3290 Sheridan Drive. There's a language barrier. The manager says there was a female who was aggressive with another employee and hit them with a shopping cart. They now have her in the LP office. Would you like her trespassed?”. Trespass paperwork was on the way.

Lancaster · 5001 Transit

TikTok Blackmail Comes for a Gateway Apartments Tenant, $300 Later

“An unknown female from TikTok… he is now out $300”

10:16 PM, Lancaster PD dispatch: a tenant at 5001 Transit Road, Gateway Apartments, Unit 624 called in a sextortion complaint. Lifted straight from the air: “stated complainant is reporting he is being blackmailed by an unknown female from TikTok who he sent explicit photos to and is now out $300”. Cybercrime hits Cheektowaga suburbia one $300 at a time.

Cheektowaga · Maryvale

Man Doing Burnouts on the High School Lot

Cheektowaga dispatch, deadpan: “some sort of man”

4:25 PM, Cheektowaga PD dispatch, with a phrasing that could only come from a scanner: “the high school building, some sort of man doing burnouts on the school property”. The unit acknowledged, 10-4.

Amherst · Wegmans on Alberta

Wegmans Meltdown: Shoplifting Turns into Throwing Merchandise

Mental-health concern flagged; store called Amherst PD

10:50 PM, Wegmans at 675 Alberta: a customer allegedly shoplifted, then escalated into throwing items around the store. Amherst PD went out on it as a mental-health-flagged customer disturbance. No injuries reported on the air.


Regional BlotterThe rest of the record, by region

Northtowns

Clarence · Rock Oak West

RESOLVED

Clarence EMS Call at Rock Oak West

At 11:09 PM Amherst Fire dispatched Clarence EMS to 9918 Whitwick Terrace at the Rock Oak West community. Radio traffic gave the address but not the patient details, and the call was cleared by Clarence in the normal window.

Buffalo Metro

Buffalo · 31 East Utica

Person Stabbed at 31 East Utica

At 10:28 PM Buffalo Fire dispatched to 31 East Utica for a person stabbed. No suspect description came across the fireground channel; extent of injuries not stated on the air.

Cheektowaga · 145 Garden Village

Stabbing Overheard on 911 Line at Garden Village Apartments; Blood Trail in Vehicle

Suspect in all black fled; XRN told to bring crime scene tape

8:41 PM, Cheektowaga PD dispatch: a 911 caller overheard what sounded like a stabbing at 145 Garden Village. Cars responded to apartment 4 and found a blood trail in a vehicle; a subject in all black had already fled the scene. At 8:50 PM, dispatch asked responding XRN to bring crime scene tape.

Niagara County

Niagara County · Storm Damage

Storm Cell Buries Niagara County Basements; Wall Collapse Prompts Evacuation

Multi-hour cluster of flooding, downed lines and one collapsed basement wall

From roughly 9:00 PM through the small hours, Niagara County FD ran a rolling cluster of storm-service calls. Between 10:01 AM and 10:40 PM crews worked flooded basements and one collapsed basement wall on New York Road / 76-94 Rochester Road / Stone Road that led to a formal evacuation order. Around the same time, National Grid worked a de-energized power-line feeder emergency at 525 Applewood Drive, Youngstown, tied to a collapsed basement wall. Area flooding was also called in on Shawnee and West Lake Road at 8:59 PM, and downed lines on a vehicle at 997 Woodcliffe Drive around 5:38 AM. No injuries relayed on the county fire channel.

Other Calls of Note

Northtowns
[12:11 AM]Amherst · 62 North Drive Missing juvenile; 15-year-old female left the residence making suicidal statements, possibly heading to 301 Saratoga; teal-haired, black hoodie with white detailing.
[12:04 AM]Amherst · 224 Princeton Domestic violence; victim reported beaten by her boyfriend, black Chevy Equinox involved; investigation ongoing.
[6:22 AM]Amherst · 1030 Chestnut Ridge Male in a gray hoodie attempted to enter vehicles near Bush Creek and Treebrook; white Audi A5 sedan involved.
[11:10 PM]Amherst · 5320 Millersport Welfare check: male missing since 3 PM, not answering his phone, drives a gray Buick; caller’s girlfriend hadn’t heard from him and gave an East Coast address.
[3:15 PM]Tonawanda · 21 Euclid Hot response from the village to 21 Euclid, between Zeller Ave and Myron; 70-year-old female, unresponsive, not breathing.
[8:08 PM]Tonawanda · 107 Blackmore Missing juvenile, ran away several hours prior from a Queens Beach address.
Buffalo Metro
[8:41 PM]Buffalo · Jefferson & East Delavan Chimney partial collapse on a brick building at Genesee, Jefferson and East Sullivan; B44 dispatched on a Special Assignment; one and a partial callout.
[8:46 PM]Cheektowaga · 20 Wildwood Fight involving five females at 20 and 15 Wildwood; multiple bleeding victims plus an unknown female bleeding in a backyard; ADI notified.
[3:59 AM]Buffalo · Cardiac Arrest Cardiac arrest in an apartment; CPR initiated then terminated; AMR and police on scene.
[3:54 PM]Lackawanna · 54 Gates Assault: an autistic adult son struck his mother at a Gates Avenue apartment.
[12:43 AM]Lackawanna · 30 Kane Frequent 911 caller in custody; Five Star arranged to meet officers to collect his house keys after roughly ten repeat calls.
[3:47 PM]Cheektowaga · Community Garbage Can Burglary victim's property turned up in a community garbage can at 13th and Lake Creek; PD taking a report.
Southtowns
[5:39 PM]Hamburg · 4909 Southwestern Thirty-year-old female unconscious, suspected overdose, at a Southwestern Boulevard urgent care; AMR responded.
[10:54 PM]West Seneca · Sahlen Trail / Carriage Park Silver BMW and, later, a silver Lincoln SUV working car-door handles; suspects fled toward Green Hill; unresolved.
[6:48 PM]West Seneca · Walgreens 815 Harlem Beer-run larceny — female took five to six packs of beer from a Walgreens, described as 5’5” in a black shirt and blue shorts.
GLOW Counties
[3:04 AM]Genesee County · Broadway Road Pickup truck fully on fire on the roadside on Broadway Road, west of Bethany Center Road; non-blocking; multiple units.
[6:04 AM]Orleans County · FD-EMS Paging Seven-year-old male, not conscious, not breathing, on a rural paging tone; second ambulance requested. Details of the outcome were not on the county paging channel in the window.
Elsewhere in WNY
[3:57 PM]WNY · I-190 North / North Grand Island Bridge Trailer fully engulfed in fire on the right shoulder of the North Grand Island Bridge, unhooked from cab, no occupants; a male reportedly climbed a fence on the same bridge minutes earlier.
[6:38 PM]Thruway · I-490 West Male walking the right shoulder of I-490 westbound near mile 493, dark jeans, Walmart bag, described as exhibiting unusual behavior; second sighting eastbound near mile 492 half an hour later.

Editor’s Note

A loud, wet overnight: a thunderstorm ran through the coverage area between roughly 8:30 PM and 10:00 PM, lighting up the fire boards with lightning strikes, downed lines, flooded intersections and one house on Buffalo's north side hit hard enough to burn. West Seneca units spent 40 minutes coaxing an armed woman in a pink-and-purple dress off Birch Street; Lackawanna PD held a scene on Highview through the small hours for the county M.E. Amherst PD kept it comparatively quiet, apart from a driver who ended up wedged against a telephone-pole guy wire in front of Charlie the Butcher.

Daily Gem

The retaining pond in front of the mall is overflowing into the boulevard. The right lanes are completely submerged and the entire intersection for Maple and the boulevard is also submerged”

— Amherst PD, 9:44 PM

By the Numbers

Segments
9,147
Active systems
27
Busiest hour
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM (storm cell + Parker Street fire)
Regional Breaking
1
Updates
0
By Agency (top 5)
BucketSegs
Police3400
Fire / EMS3900
Airport / aviation380
Hotel / shuttle / taxi260
Rail / maritime140
By Area (top 5)
BucketSegs
Buffalo / Lackawanna2900
Cheektowaga / Lancaster / Depew1500
Williamsville & Amherst1050
Southtowns1150
Niagara County620

Agency and area segment counts are estimated by mapping each ProScan channel to a single bucket; sub-percentage differences between counts and the 9,147 total reflect channels that fell outside the top five.

The WNY Listening Post · Monday, August 3, 2026 · A.M. Edition · Vol. I, No. 86
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.