Buffalo · South Park · Death Investigation

A South Park Avenue Domestic Call Is Changed From a Rescue to a Death Investigation

Officers sent overnight on a domestic at a South Park apartment asked dispatch to reclassify the call from a rescue to a DOA, saying they would need more time on scene.

At 1:49 AM, Buffalo police were sent to another domestic at 1439 South Park, apartment 2, after a male caller reported someone refusing to leave.

When dispatch tried the callback a few minutes later there was no answer. Shortly after, a unit on scene asked, “Can you change this call from a rescue to a DOA? We're still on scene” — telling dispatch they were still on scene and would need more time. The traffic did not establish a cause.

Hamburg · Wegmans · Suspicious Incident

A Caller Says a Man Was Trying to Shove a Woman Into an SUV in the Wegmans Handicapped Spot

Hamburg police rushed two cars to the McKinley Wegmans yesterday evening after a report of a man forcing an elderly woman into a vehicle out front.

Yesterday at 5:04 PM, Hamburg police sent units 28 and 35 to Wegmans at 3740 McKinley, in front of the Market Cafe, after a caller reported a male trying to shove a female into a black Kia SUV parked in a handicapped spot. Dispatch noted both subjects appeared to be in their late seventies.

A follow-up correction described the vehicle as a pickup truck rather than an SUV, a white female in a pink outfit and a white male in black clothing. Officers arrived on location minutes later.

Orchard Park · Highmark Stadium · Confined-Space Rescue

Two People Trapped in a Stadium Elevator Are Freed in a Confined-Space Rescue

Orchard Park firefighters were toned out yesterday afternoon for a confined-space rescue at the new Bills stadium, where two people were stuck in an elevator on the kitchen level.

Yesterday at 4:23 PM, Orchard Park Fire dispatched all companies on a confined-space rescue at the new stadium, 10 Bills Plaza — two people stuck in an elevator at car D3.2, level 2, described on the air as the kitchen level in the southwest corner of the building.

Crews were directed to check in with security at the security box, and units responded from district and out of district as the call was re-alerted. By 4:32 PM apparatus was on location at 10 Bills, bringing the rescue to a close.

Amherst · Hickory Hill Road · Welfare Check

A Hickory Hill Welfare Check Escalates to a Woman Trapped Unresponsive Behind the Wheel

What began as a welfare check at a Hickory Hill Road address yesterday evening turned urgent when officers found a woman out of it, still in gear, and couldn't get the car door open.

Yesterday at 8:27 PM, an Amherst officer was out with a victim with a bloody face at 76 Hickory Hill Road[*] and asked for a rig, with Jaffa requested to respond.

By 8:31 PM the situation sharpened. An officer reported that a female was still in the car, still in drive and “completely out of it” — unable to get her to open the door and requesting Twin City Ambulance and the fire department. Units worked to reach her as the call continued.

Amherst · Sweet Home Road · Pedestrian Struck

A Child Is Struck by a Car on Sweet Home Road, Conscious but Transported

An Amherst officer came upon a child hit by a car on Sweet Home Road yesterday evening and reported the patient conscious and moving on the ground.

Yesterday at 6:03 PM, an Amherst officer reported a child hit by a car at 824 Sweet Home Road[*], with additional units and the fire department turned toward the scene.

Pulling up moments later, the officer advised the patient was on the ground but moving around, conscious and alert. The child was later transported for evaluation.

Amherst · UB North Campus · Fire Alarm

A Fire Alarm at UB's Evans Quad Turns Up an Unresponsive Subject Overnight

A fifth-floor fire alarm in Evans Quad brought campus police and Buffalo Fire overnight, with early traffic citing an unresponsive subject of unknown status.

Overnight at 12:04 AM, UB Campus police handled a fire alarm in Evans Quad, Building 6, on the fifth-floor hallway near Room 572K, with Buffalo Fire responding.

As the call unfolded, officers juggled a separate medical nearby — an intoxicated student on a campus bus — requesting an ambulance and working to get a name for the patient. The campus traffic was busy, with AMR and multiple units in the mix across the North Campus overnight.

Lackawanna · Ridge Road · Welfare Call

A Man on Ridge Road Threatens to Set Himself on Fire; He Has a Lighter but No Fuel

Lackawanna police were asked to assist the fire department yesterday evening with a man out front who said he might light himself on fire.

Yesterday at 6:59 PM, a Lackawanna dispatcher sent a car to 600 Ridge to assist the fire department with an individual out front who “stated he may want to light himself on fire”.

Dispatch advised the man had a lighter but no weapons and no gas, and directed the responding unit to keep him safe. The call drew both police and fire to the location.

Tonawanda · Military Road · Domestic

An Ex-Boyfriend Refuses to Leave a Military Road Apartment and Says He Has Thirteen Guns at Home

A Tonawanda domestic call yesterday evening brought word that a man refusing to leave had told the woman he had thirteen guns at his house.

Yesterday at 5:37 PM, Tonawanda police asked units to cover a domestic at 1774 Military, Lot 63, where an ex-boyfriend was refusing to leave and yelling at a female, stating he had 13 guns at his house.

Dispatch noted the woman was unsure whether he had any weapons on him and that he was only claiming to keep them at his home. Multiple cars were steered toward the scene from across the town.

Depew · Football Friday · Logistics

Friday Night Lites: A Fire Chief Choreographs the Food Trucks

Forget the fire ground — yesterday at 5:29 PM the Depew Fire chief had a far thornier logistics puzzle on his hands: where to park the food trucks for the high school football game. With security working the front on Transit Road and the parking lot filling, the trucks started rolling in. The answer came back crisp: “Food trucks are going to be just west of the field, so send them back along the access road by the bus garage and we'll get them in here” A final count settled the matter — five trucks total, four already there, one more inbound. Game-night command, handled.

Erie County · Twin District · Priorities

First Things First: Drop the Wife Off, Then the Fire

The volunteer life, in one transmission. Yesterday at 7:51 PM a Twin District firefighter keyed up to report his ETA with an honesty that only the open channel brings: “Matt, I'm coming from Frank's. I just gotta drop my wife off at home and then I'll be available” Duty calls — but so does the carpool. The run, for the record, turned out to be burnt food on a stove.

Amherst · Dispatch Desk · Cadence

Three Days, Scott: An Amherst Dispatcher Finds a Rhythm

There is a music to a busy dispatch channel, and yesterday afternoon an Amherst desk found it — a clipped run of check-ins that fell into a cadence all its own, a steady three-count of names and days ticking off between calls. Somewhere between the roll of "three days" and a cheery "ciao for now," the ordinary machinery of the radio turned, for a moment, into something close to a chant.

Wyoming County · Prairie Center · Last Call

Full Dress Uniform: A County Calls All Hands for One of Its Own

Not every page over the county fire channel is an emergency. Yesterday at 6:16 PM, Wyoming County dispatch broadcast a different kind of alert entirely — the Prairie Center Fire Department announcing, “with extreme heavy heart, the Prairie Center Fire Department announces the passing of 55-year member and 30-year deputy fire coordinator, Gary Huss” All firefighters were asked to assemble at the Prairie Center station Saturday by 1:45 PM in full dress uniform for the 2 PM service. The quietest transmissions, sometimes, carry the most.

Chautauqua County · Mystery Alarm · Stand Down

Hold the Engines: The Culprit Was a Popcorn Machine

A Chautauqua County crew spent the better part of ten minutes last evening sorting out whether a fire call was real, with cars holding and one unit insisting on checking in anyway. The verdict came at 8:00 PM, delivered with the deadpan relief only a false alarm can produce: “It's okay to stand down. We're all set here. It's a popcorn machine” Engines returned to quarters, the stand-down complete and the snack bar presumably off the hook.

Amherst · Hedstrom Street · Burglary In Progress

Pair Climb Through Window of Occupied Hedstrom Street Home, One Flees on Bike

Yesterday at 6:20 PM, Amherst police dispatch sent cars to Hedstrom Street[*] for a possible burglary in progress at the house next door to 310, after a caller reported two people climbing in through a side or back window and taking items — described as a Black woman in her 20s and a Black man about 5-foot-8.

Dispatch updated responding cars that one of the pair had left on a bicycle toward Sheridan Drive, wearing a gray shirt, black pants and sneakers with headphones, with a red bike left at the end of the driveway; by 6:24 PM the address was refined to 304 Hedstrom Street, where dispatch said officers “are talking on the bike now”.

Amherst · Millersport Highway · Domestic Disturbance

Screams of Wanting to 'Kill Herself' Send Amherst Police to Millersport Highway Apartment

Yesterday at 6:10 PM, Amherst police dispatch sent a patrol unit to 1335 Millersport Highway, the Coakley Court Apartments, after a neighbor in apartment 8 called to report hearing a female screaming that she wanted to kill herself in apartment 5, with the sound of things being smashed inside.

A minute later, dispatch radioed a correction to responding cars: “it may be apartment number six, the history matches up better with what sounds like it's going on”. An officer on scene reviewed the apartment complex's security footage and told a supervisor it captured what happened before radioing that the unit was backing off and the call could be closed out, with no further details broadcast on the air.

Amherst · Bernhardt Road · Found Property

Handgun Turns Up as Found Property in Bernhardt Road Yard

Yesterday afternoon, Amherst police dispatch fielded a call regarding a handgun found in a yard on Bernhardt Road, logged as found property; officers worked to establish ownership history at the address with limited information to go on.

Buffalo · Grant Street · Domestic/Gun Call

Domestic Dispute on Buffalo's Grant Street Turns Into Gun Call, Suspect Walks Off

Just before 10:52 PM yesterday, Buffalo police B/D District radio relayed a domestic dispute at 268 Grant Street that quickly became a gun call: two males had been seen hitting a female, and a separate caller said one of the men had a handgun hidden in a basket of clothes. Dispatch sent Bravo 411 and 412, then added 413 and 432 to back them up.

An update described the suspect as “a bald black male wearing a bill zip-up”, as officers worked the area and dispatchers repeatedly tried to clear a stuck open mic on the channel. In the last update on the call, dispatch reported the man was walking back toward 268 Grant Street before the transmission cut out, with no arrest reported on the air.

Buffalo · Main Street · Gun Call

Armed Customer Flees Main Street Business in Black Ford Explorer After Gun Call

Just after 4:53 PM yesterday, Buffalo police B/D District dispatch sent cars to 1338 Main Street for a gun call after a male customer in the parking lot was seen putting a handgun in his pocket and leaving in a car headed toward Utica Station. Dispatch gave a partial plate reading Lincoln-Union-4024 as units already clear from a nearby alarm at 276 Southampton were redirected to the scene.

A follow-up update described the suspect as a Black male in a red shirt, armed, driving a black Ford Explorer — a correction from the initial report of a red sedan — and officers tried unsuccessfully to reach anyone in the business's camera room to pull video. A car was later reported passing near the suspect vehicle, and dispatch determined the plate traced to Michigan rather than New York before the channel moved on with no arrest reported on the air.

Buffalo · East Ferry Street · Armed Suspect Search

Buffalo Police Search for Armed Suspect Near East Ferry After Domestic Call

Shortly after 5:30 PM yesterday, Buffalo police C/E District units began looking for a black Mercedes-Benz tied to a domestic incident near East Ferry Street, with the car's occupant identified on dispatch as Gervonta Moore, given a listed birth date of October 1, 1993. Dispatch directed officers to get the female involved medical attention and said Moore was believed to be in the area of 1267 East Ferry.

A dispatcher broadcast the Mercedes' plate as Michael-Hotel-Victor-7217, repeating it after the letters were initially garbled on the air, and reported a gun inside the vehicle. No arrest had been reported on the channel before traffic moved on to other calls.

Buffalo · Ontario Street · Apartment Fire

Buffalo Fire Sends Full Assignment After Caller Reports Oven Fire Spreading at Ontario Street Apartment

Yesterday at 6:34 PM, Buffalo Fire dispatch sent a full assignment — Engine 26, Engine 36, Engine 19, Ladder 13, Ladder 4, Ladder 7, a FAST team, Rescue 1, and Battalions 47, 41 and 56 — to 148 Ontario Street, between Sandrock Street[*] and Tonawanda Street, after a caller reported “their oven was on fire and it was starting to spread to the apartment”.

Battalion 47 took the response and companies were ordered to switch to a secondary channel as they converged on the address; no further word on fire conditions or the apartment's occupants came over the primary dispatch channel.

Cheektowaga · Harlem & Walden · Drone Search

Cheektowaga Police Launch Drone to Track Man Fleeing Through Commercial Property

Yesterday around 8:34 PM, Cheektowaga police dispatch flagged a suspect pickup truck near Harlem Road[*] [heard: Harlan] and Walden Avenue; officers located and stopped the vehicle by 8:36 PM. Minutes later, with a unit calling for backup, dispatch put a department drone into the air — piloted, dispatch said, by Detective Polino — after spotting “a male walking through the property” on a nearby property.

Patrol cars were directed to the property's office entrance to intercept the man as the drone guided them, with additional units covering two open doors between the complex's buildings. By 8:41 PM, with the man no longer in view, dispatch told officers already on scene, “I guess just start searching the buildings”.

Cheektowaga · Best Western · Overdose Call

Narcan Administered to Woman Found Not Breathing at Cheektowaga Best Western

Yesterday at 11:37 PM, Cheektowaga Fire dispatch sent crews to the Best Western at 601 Dingens Street[*], Room 204, for a 43-year-old woman reported not breathing. Toil 293, AMR 278, a medic unit and Doyle 291 were assigned, with Doyle 291 on scene within three minutes.

At 11:45 PM a crew radioed “first dose of Narcan on board”; the patient's condition afterward was not reported on the channel before dispatch moved on to the next call.

Cheektowaga · Slate Creek Drive · Order Of Protection

Woman Won't Leave Ex's Apartment as Cheektowaga Officer Responds to Unserved Protective Order

Yesterday at 7:06 PM, a Cheektowaga officer was sent to 17 Slate Creek Drive, Apartment 3, on what dispatch logged as a “Violate OP” call — a complaint of “safety of females refusing to leave and he has an OP against her”.

Dispatch noted the order had not yet been served and that officers did not have a copy on hand, and a second unit was sent to drop off paperwork at the scene by 7:07 PM.

Wyoming County · Van Allen Road · ATV Crash

Four-Wheeler Crash Into Tree Injures Rider, 74, Draws Mercy Flight Call in Wyoming County

Yesterday at 4:47 PM, Wyoming County fire dispatch sent a climbing-rescue response to 1300 Van Allen Road for a 74-year-old man who had crashed a four-wheeler into a tree, reporting a right arm injury, hip and back pain, and a head laceration; he was described as awake and breathing. Medic 80 responded as dispatch checked the availability of Mercy Flight out of Buffalo for a possible air transport.

Before the medevac could be arranged, dispatch relayed that the man's sister had not waited: “the sister had them on a gator trying to get them back to that residence, he was in the field behind the house”. With him no longer in the field, dispatch told a nearby fire company to hold off sending further manpower until he was confirmed back at the residence.

Wyoming County · Lake Street · Welfare Check

Repeated Falls Prompt Welfare Check on Wyoming County's Lake Street

Yesterday at 3:18 PM, Wyoming County Sheriff's dispatch sent a deputy to 33 Lake Street for a welfare check on a woman identified as Delores Young, after the county's Office for the Aging reported she had fallen a couple of times the day before but refused EMS.

The caller told dispatchers Young “was just not acting like herself on the phone”; no further radio traffic indicated whether EMS was ultimately called to the address.

Ashford · Wall Street · Working Fire

Two-Story Brick Home Burns Through the Roof in Ashford, Mutual Aid Called In

Just before 4:35 PM yesterday, Cattaraugus County Fire dispatch sent West Valley and Ellicottville fire companies to a reported structure fire on Wall Street in Ashford. Dispatch quickly asked Ellicottville to send an engine and tanker to the scene with its aerial truck on standby at the hall, and within minutes the first officer on location, designated G3, confirmed a working fire in a two-story brick structure with fire already through the roof.

Command asked Ellicottville to bring its aerial "first," opened a dedicated fireground channel, Fire Ops 5, to manage the responding units, and crews established a water supply off a hydrant near the driveway. As the fire grew, dispatch widened the mutual-aid request further, asking for a second engine, tanker, gear truck and piston apparatus to stand by at a nearby firehouse while crews worked the blaze.

Jamestown · Charlotte Avenue · Domestic Call

Seven-Year-Old Calls 911 as Father Yells in Jamestown Home

Yesterday just after 8:50 PM, Jamestown police dispatch relayed a call from a seven-year-old child reporting what sounded like a domestic incident at 211 Charlotte Avenue, with the child's partner on the phone trying to get more information and no father present when the call began, according to the dispatcher.

As units responded, dispatch relayed that “we could hear a father yelling in the background, or some sort of male yelling in the background, asking who the child was speaking with”, and that a man believed to be the child's father, described as possibly a 'junior,' could be heard yelling in the background asking who the child was speaking with. A unit arrived on scene around 8:55 PM reporting yelling still audible from inside the house; a records check afterward came back negative for local history at the address.

Jamestown · 5th Avenue · Facility Walkaway

Jamestown Facility Resident in Knee Brace Slips Out, May Be Headed for Tops Plaza

Just after 5:30 AM, Jamestown police dispatch relayed a call from a care facility on 5th Avenue reporting that a resident identified on dispatch as Gracie Whitehead had run out of the facility's A2 building, wearing black sweatpants, a black shirt and a knee brace.

Staff said they were unable to leave the building themselves to search for her because of other residents inside, and asked responding officers to check the area around the nearby Tops Plaza, where she may have been headed; no further word on whether she was located was broadcast on the air.

NYS Thruway · Erratic Box Truck

Swerving Box Truck Tracked for 11 Minutes Across NYS Thruway, Nearly Strikes Other Vehicles

Just before 1 AM, Thruway radio relayed a report of an erratic box truck passing mile marker 461 westbound, unable to maintain its lane and nearly striking other vehicles, with no further description available at the time.

About ten minutes later, troopers asked for an updated location and were told the truck — now described as an orange-cab, white box truck with an unreadable out-of-state plate — had reversed course and was last seen heading eastbound near mile marker 453, still “unable to maintain lanes, almost hitting other vehicles”; it was not clear from the radio traffic whether the vehicle was located.

Genesee County · I-90 Westbound · Erratic Driver

Erratic Kia Reported Weaving, Striking Cones on I-90 Westbound Near Exit 45

Yesterday at 3:20 PM, New York State Thruway radio relayed a report of a gray Kia SUV traveling westbound from Exit 45, unable to maintain its lane and having already struck multiple traffic cones; the vehicle reportedly carried an unreadable Kentucky plate and was said to be moving at a high rate of speed.