Tonawanda & Kenmore · Lithium-Ion Fires

Three Lithium-Ion Battery Fires Flare Across the Tonawandas in One Evening

A basement battery blaze on Danbury, an e-bike pack that exploded in a Kenmore dining room, and a third battery that reignited outside in Sheridan Park all inside a single evening.

Yesterday at 4:04 PM, Tonawanda Town Fire was toned out to 23 Danbury, between Delaware Road and the dead end, where a resident reported “part of fire in the basement, they do see smoke and flames”. Crews arrived to find what a unit called “a lithium ion battery fire, appears to be out at this time”, and spent the next several minutes trying to coax reluctant occupants out — the traffic warned dispatch that residents were refusing to leave and that there were “possibly animals inside”. Command held Engine 3 on scene for heavy ventilation after the fire was knocked down, with the battery pack pulled into the backyard to finish cooling.

It was not an isolated event. Around 5:51 PM, Tonawanda Town Fire responded to 175 Pullman in Kenmore for an e-bike battery that had been plugged in and began smoking in the dining room before exploding, drawing a Hazmat and Squad 13 request. And near 5:56 PM, a third lithium-ion battery ignited in Sheridan Park after it was moved outside, with water applied to bring it down. Three separate battery fires, three different scenes, all within roughly two hours of one another.

Amherst · Main Street McDonald's · Threats

A Threat to 'Shoot Up' a Main Street McDonald's, Then a Manager Who Declined to Press Charges

An employee reported a man had threatened to come back and shoot up the restaurant near the UB South Campus; a matching subject was found within minutes.

Yesterday at 6:26 PM, Amherst dispatch sent units to the McDonald's at 3540 Main Street, across from the UB South Campus, on a threats call. The complainant was an employee, and per the traffic, a man wearing “Dredd's blue shirt” had “threatened to come back and shoot up the place”. He had “left on foot in an unknown direction”.

The call ran in parallel on the UB Campus PD channel, where officers put out a description of a man with dreadlocks and a blue shirt threatening to shoot. Within a few minutes a subject matching the description was located near the restaurant; the manager declined to press charges, and units cleared. The traffic gave no indication a weapon was ever seen. The same McDonald's turned up again after midnight, at about 3:27 AM, on a separate hang-up 911 involving a woman outside the business in an apparent mental-health episode.

Buffalo · Missing Children

A String of Missing-Child Calls Ripples Across Buffalo Through the Evening

In roughly three hours, dispatchers worked a 13-year-old who never boarded her bus, a 12-year-old who slipped out a window, a boy in all red, and a child named Jason seen walking toward a store.

Yesterday at about 8:08 PM, a Buffalo dispatcher opened a missing-person call on Rosetta Petruzzi Way, reading it out as a mother whose “13-year-old daughter never got on the afternoon bus” — a Maritime Charter student who reportedly never got on the afternoon bus. It was the first of several such calls in quick succession.

By 8:26 PM another came in from the Carrefour building for a 12-year-old girl who had snuck out a bedroom window within the past hour; around 9:00 PM officers were searching for a 12-year-old boy in all-red clothing off Carl Street; and near 11:00 PM a child named Jason was reported seen walking toward a store off East Ferry. Most of the threads pointed toward kids leaving on their own rather than being taken, but the volume kept East and West Side units chasing descriptions well into the night.

Salamanca · 316 Main Street · Wanted Felon

A Wanted Man Wrecks His Motorcycle, Then Vanishes Into the Woods Off Main Street

A subject with multiple open felony warrants crashed his bike behind a Salamanca residence and fled on foot, triggering an armed overnight search.

Yesterday at 11:11 PM, Cattaraugus Sheriff dispatch put units onto a subject with multiple open felony warrants who had “wrecked his bike in the backyard” at 316 Main Street in Salamanca. Early traffic suggested he had run into the house, but a dispatcher soon walked that back, cautioning it “isn't confirmed that he made it in the house”.

The search moved to the ground around the residence, with dispatch advising he could be “out on the dikes, or behind the residence in the wooded area” and asking Olean PD be looped in. A description went out over the air — a white male, very thin, thinning hair and a chin-strap beard, in a black baseball cap and dark clothing — as deputies worked the wooded area behind the property into the night.

Hamburg · Motel 6 · Welfare Check

A Disoriented 7-Year-Old Girl Turns Up Alone at a Hamburg Hotel Desk Before Dawn

Front-desk staff at a Motel 6 flagged a little girl near the pool who could not say her name or where she was; an officer was on scene within seconds.

Early this morning at 4:29 AM, Hamburg PD dispatch sent a unit on a welfare check to a Motel 6 at 5245 Camp Road, where the front desk reported a girl of about 7 who had come to the desk near the pool and “did not know her name, did not know where she was”.

Dispatch described her as a white female, heavy set, in a gray top and blue shorts. An officer marked on scene within seconds of the call. No further word on how the child came to be alone, or on locating her family, crossed the air before the window closed.

Allegany · Rest Area · Stolen Vehicle

A Teen Behind the Wheel of a Green Bay Stolen Car Is Caught at an Allegheny Rest Area

A green Subaru Forester on a Wisconsin plate, reported stolen out of Green Bay and driven by a 16-year-old, was stopped along I-86 and the driver taken into custody.

Yesterday evening, between about 8:42 AM and 8:57 PM, Cattaraugus Sheriff and Salamanca PD worked a stolen-vehicle stop at the Allegheny rest area off I-86. The car went out as a 2015 green Subaru Forester on a Wisconsin plate, reported stolen from Green Bay and being operated by a 16-year-old male.

The vehicle was stopped and the teen taken into custody — a long way from home for a 16-year-old and a stolen car to travel before the wires caught up with them.

Amherst PD Dispatch

See You on the 4th. See You on the 4th. See You on the 4th.

Yesterday at 6:23 PM, an Amherst officer keyed up to say Buffalo had talked with a man named Ishmael who carried no charges, so he'd give him a courtesy ride. Then came the send-off — “See you on the 4th” — echoed back not once but six times in a row, a good-natured pile-on that turned a routine sign-off into a chorus. Whatever happens on the 4th, the whole squad will apparently be there.

Amherst PD Dispatch

All Points Bulletin: One Raccoon, Limping, Last Seen Near the Garages

Yesterday at 8:40 PM, with a shoplifting subject already in hand at the Transit Road Target, an Amherst dispatcher tacked a gentler assignment onto the shift: “While you're there, can you just take a drive by 491 Burroughs, look for that limping raccoon near the garages”. 'Good work,' came the reply — before the raccoon, presumably, had even been found. Not every call on the air is a felony.

EC Countywide EMS

Well, That's Just Splendid

Yesterday at 11:01 PM, a countywide EMS crew rolled up on a lift-assist call only to learn another unit had already handled it moments before they arrived. The dead-pan verdict came straight back over the air: “Well, that's just splendid”. The very definition of a wasted trip, delivered with impeccable timing.

BuffaloLimo

The Lights Have Been On for Days, and One Door Is Ajar

Yesterday at 9:57 PM, a Buffalo limo channel — usually the province of airport runs and pickup times — carried something closer to the opening of a mystery novel. Someone would “be in some sort of distress”, and there had been “no movement downstairs, lights have been on for days, and one door is ajar”. It's the kind of quiet, unsettling report that lodges in the mind long after the radio goes silent.

United Ramp

No Bags on the Belt. Can I Go Home?

Yesterday at 7:47 PM, a United ramp agent at the airport ran through the end-of-shift checklist and then asked the question every worker on Earth has felt in their bones: ticket counters closed, security squared away, “No bags on the belt. Can I go home?” The answer, mercifully: 'Yeah, that's fine.'

Buffalo · Stabbing

Man Left Bleeding From the Hand After William Street Stabbing

Yesterday at 10:31 PM, Buffalo Police units were sent to a reported stabbing at 881 William Street, where staff said a white male outside had been assaulted and was bleeding from the hand.

A witness on scene told officers “he stabbed an arm”, and dispatch called for units to slow their response as the situation was assessed.

Buffalo · Death Investigation

Roommate Finds Man Dead Inside Central Avenue Apartment

Yesterday at 4:50 PM, Buffalo Police were sent to 228 Central Avenue for a rescue call after a roommate found a 32-year-old male not breathing and cold to the touch in the lower apartment; the medical examiner's office was notified.

Officers on scene confirmed the man was deceased, radioing that “228 Central is going to be a DOA”.

Buffalo · Death Notification

Overnight Death Notification Sends Officers to Hertel Avenue Apartment for Kevin Robinson's Mother

Just before 1 AM, Buffalo Police were asked to assist West Seneca Police with a death notification, checking 1631 Hertel Avenue, Apartment 341, for a woman identified on the air as Yvonne to notify her regarding her son, Kevin Robinson.

A supervising lieutenant asked to be looped in on the call, and a second unit was assigned to assist with the notification.

Buffalo · Domestic Threat

Man With History of Mental Illness Threatens to Kill Woman He Allegedly Strangled a Night Earlier

Yesterday at 10:44 PM, Buffalo Police District A dispatch sent units toward Merrimont after a tip from an off-site monitoring service reported a man threatening to kill a woman — possibly a girlfriend — at an address with a documented history of mental illness, and said the same man had allegedly strangled the woman the night before.

Minutes later, a neighbor told dispatchers the woman was outside “begging at the door” and that it sounded like items were being thrown around inside, prompting additional units to be sent to back up the responding cars.

Niagara County · Mutual-Aid Medical Call

Middleport, Mercy EMS Called to Aid Unresponsive Man on Telegraph Road

Yesterday at 9:24 PM, Niagara County Fire Dispatch sent a crew toward Telegraph Road between Freeman Road and Kelly Avenue for a report of a man found unresponsive and breathing shallowly, requesting an ALS-priority response over the county EMS channel.

Dispatch repeated the call minutes later as a Tri-Town mutual-aid request pulling in Middleport, and by 9:29 PM crews were en route to 108 Telegraph Road for the same patient with Mercy EMS also responding.

Randolph · Pediatric Medical Emergency

Driver Shortage Delays Ambulance for Unresponsive One-Year-Old on Route 62

Yesterday at 11:43 PM, Cattaraugus County Fire Dispatch sent Randolph EMS on an ALS-priority unconscious call to 6092 Route 62 for a 1-year-old girl who had a seizure three hours earlier and remained unresponsive, though still breathing.

Dispatch re-toned for a driver minutes later after no one showed responding on the paging system, at one point noting “still not showing nothing on my end responding”, and checked whether South Dayton or Ellington crews were available before a Randolph driver turned up and the ambulance went en route.

Salamanca · Pediatric Medical Emergency

Seven-Year-Old Girl Goes Unresponsive After Slurred Speech in Salamanca

Yesterday at 11:22 PM, Cattaraugus County Fire Dispatch put out an ALS-priority call to 52 Jefferson Street in Salamanca for a 7-year-old girl who had been having slurred speech and then became unresponsive, sending an ALS ambulance to the scene.

I-90 Westbound · Truck Fires

Series of Tractor-Trailer Brake Fires Shuts I-90 Westbound Lanes

Yesterday around 8:22 PM, Chautauqua County Fire Dispatch and Fredonia Fire units responded to a string of tractor-trailer brake fires that closed lanes on Interstate 90 westbound, with crews working the scene into the evening.