8
The Firefighter
Extra resources needed for industrial inferno
by SAMANTHA FLAVELL Courtesy Bee Group Newspapers
A large structure fire in an industrial park on Earhart Drive near Wehrle in Amherst on the afternoon of Tuesday , July 20 , resulted in a 22-hour operation with assistance from approximately 40 different fire companies and 10 government agencies to extinguish the blaze and keep civilians and first responders safe . The initial call came in at approximately 4:26 p . m . with a report of smoke in the building of Premium PPE , a 2.5 story mask and personal protection manufacturing facility . According to Main-Transit Fire Department Chief Brad Sprague , the initial responders arrived at the scene in under a minute at which point they began assessing the severity of the situation and called for additional reinforcements . “ Our first team was on location within less than a minute of the call and reported having fire conditions coming from the roof . At that point we immediately called for mutual aid companies to provide additional support ,” Sprague said . “ Once we had our command structure set up and we knew that everybody was out of the building , we determined that based off the amount of fire load and potential hazards we made a defensive attack at that point .” “ We think we had roughly 40 different fire departments that were involved and probably somewhere around 10 government agencies ,” Sprague said . “ Without them this would not have been a successful operation .” Additional support came from companies all across Western New York including fire departments from Amherst , Clarence , Cheektowaga , Lancaster , Tonawanda and Orchard Park as well as several state agencies and departments from surrounding counties . The companies not only offered additional manpower but also provided additional pumpers and ladder trucks to be able to hit the fire from above . According to Sprague , one of the challenges was not only the inability to enter the structure and form an interior attack but also the concern of potential industrial chemicals within the structure . “ We did put out an evacuation recommendation that evening for any residents within 1,000 feet of that area . We had New York State fire along with the DEC doing some monitoring ,” Sprague said . “ We never had any hazardous readings come back so that was all really precautionary . But there was no hazard identified to the public at that time .” About 90 minutes into the incident , strong winds shifted from north to south , blanketing the adjacent NYS Thruway and an airport runway in dense , black smoke .
( Please turn to page 15 )
The destruction of the July 20 fire in Amherst can be seen clearly in this photo taken more than a month later , on Aug . 28
PHOTO CREDIT THIS PAGE : David F . Sherman
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