The WNY Listening Post

DEVELOPINGBleach + bowl cleaner = chlorine cloud at Snyder group home

Ten residents and staff evacuated from 289 Crosby Boulevard after laundry-room mixing accident

20:28 · Amherst Fire Dispatch / Amherst PD · Crosby House group home

Amherst Fire was paged out shortly after 8:28 p.m. for a possible chemical reaction inside the Crosby House group home at 289 Crosby Boulevard, near Endicott Drive and Olney Drive. Per dispatch, staff in the laundry room had mixed what was repeatedly described as "Burex" (likely Bowl-Rex bowl cleaner) with bleach — a combination that, as one Amherst Fire dispatcher noted, "could possibly create chlorine gas."^[1][2] Within minutes, Amherst PD confirmed the building was being cleared. CD-138 responded shortly after to assist.^[3][4]

An Amherst PD officer reported back to dispatch that "staff members, 10 residents, all evacuated from the building — everybody's accounted for."^[5] Crews stayed on scene to extract the liquid, evacuate the air, and ventilate. By 10:35 p.m. dispatch noted "all chemicals are removed, the house has been ventilated, readings are back to zero."^[6] No injuries were reported on the radio.

EXCLUSIVESingle car, one telephone pole, one exploded transformer at Main & Youngs

Williamsville-edge crash sends mineral oil running for the storm sewer just before midnight

23:55 · Amherst Fire Dispatch / Amherst PD · Main Street & Youngs Road

A single-vehicle crash at the corner of Main and Youngs — right at the edge of the Village — turned into a multi-agency cleanup just before midnight after the driver hit a telephone pole "at a high rate of speed," per the initial Amherst Fire dispatch.^[7][8] An Amherst PD officer arrived to find the pole's transformer in pieces: "Transformer looked like it exploded, got fluid flying all over the place … pointing of injury, roadway is going to need to be closed down and cleaned up."^[9][10]

An Amherst Fire dispatcher confirmed there were no injuries but that "a transformer has exploded, it sounds like, on the pole."^[11] Six minutes later, the same channel reported that "some of the oils and fluids from the transformers are leaking down the sewer," prompting a request for crews to respond to the scene.^[12] A Department of Conservation notification was made shortly after midnight for the mineral oil spill.^[13]

DEVELOPING"I'm down, take cover" — chaotic foot pursuit on North French

Amherst patrol units dispatched at 7:08 p.m. for a barefoot subject said to be a known address

19:08 · Amherst PD · North French Road / Campbell

An evening rolled fast in Amherst patrol's first half hour. Officers were dispatched to 6 North French for a "white male with a brown hood, a sweatshirt, blue gym pants, wearing no shoes," walking east toward Campbell.^[14] One officer told dispatch the subject was "Paul Taglerino, that we've been dealing with from 954 North French." A few seconds later, an officer keyed up with the urgent: "16 radio, I'm French, city hall, I'm down, take cover."^[15] Cover units rolled in from Fort 19 and the channel quickly normalized; no injuries to officers were reported on the air.

Two kids on the wrong side of the Main Street bridge guardrail

19:49 · Amherst PD · Main Street Bridge over the I-290 (Williamsville)

A passer-by on the 290 called in a welfare check for two kids spotted "outside the guardrail" on the Main Street bridge over the highway, in the heart of the Village. The reporting officer said the children "didn't appear in distress or anything — just concerned why they were on the bridge."^[16] The call cleared minutes later with no incident.

Possible domestic at Woodside Village MHP, then a 74-year-old down 50 feet away

21:34 · Amherst PD & Fire · 9233 Main Street, Clarence (Woodside Village manufactured home park)

Amherst PD met a "female half" at Woodside Village — a manufactured-home park at 9233 Main Street between Thompson and Goodrich roads in Clarence — reportedly "starting to smash up the belongings for unknown reason." Officers cleared the scene saying both parties were "negative" and no peace was needed between them; "anxiety and PTSD" were mentioned.^[17][18] Six minutes later, Harris Hill EMS was dispatched to the same address — unit number 1 — for a 74-year-old male found unconscious but breathing.^[19] The two calls appear unrelated based on dispatch sequencing.

"Pretty bedroom, hallway, front, smoke detector" — quick Williamsville fire run

20:12 · Amherst Fire Dispatch · 65 Fleetwood Terrace, Williamsville

Williamsville Fire was paged for an activated smoke detector at 65 Fleetwood Terrace, near Sheridan and Catherine. The "one-story ranch" was quickly evacuated and the system reset within minutes. No fire found.^[20][21]

WHAT THE…?!Goose down, gosling backup — Amherst’s great waterfowl emergency of dawn

Two separate injured-bird dispatches in 23 minutes turn the morning shift into a one-channel Audubon hotline

06:12 / 06:34 · Amherst PD · Transit Road / 415 Commerce Drive

As Thursday dawned, Amherst PD got back-to-back animal-control calls that no doubt warmed the heart and complicated the morning briefing. At 6:12, an officer asked dispatch to "check on the injured goose in the roadway on target 8290 Transit." Twenty-two minutes later: "Baby geese in the roadway that are apparently injured from 95 Nutrition, 415 Commerce."^[22][23] No word from the radio on the recovery.

EXCLUSIVEThe Vision in White: a stumbling intoxicated man in full white robes with a bottle

23:19 · Amherst PD

An Amherst PD dispatcher put out a description for the ages: "An intox male that's stumbling, wearing a white gown, a white hood, and white pants, and holding some sort of bottle."^[24] The post does not know what the bottle contained. The post would like to know.

Buffalo Airport shuttle drivers reach the breaking point on potholes

21:07 · TPS BNIA Shuttle

Open-mic mood at the airport. One driver to another, after dropping off rude pickup honkers earlier in the evening: "they can stay there, because they're stupid."^[25] A few hours later, a second driver vented about the back of the B and C area: "Those holes are just getting deeper and deeper."^[26] A small public-works request, beamed citywide.

The Golden Waffle siege: video monitors vs. two men in hoodies

19:26 · Amherst PD · 3500 Main Street

Amherst PD got a hand-off about an "off-site security through the video monitoring" service complaining about two subjects standing in front of the Golden Waffle at 3500 Main Street — one in a green hooded sweatshirt and black pants, the other in a yellow hoodie and dark pants. The owner reportedly "does not want them there." Cooler heads on the channel: "They can hang out on the sidewalk without an issue."^[27][28]

"Is your rat's name Shumi?" — an American Airlines ramp comm at 5:29 a.m.

05:29 · American (BNIA Site)

Without context, without follow-up, without explanation, an American Airlines ramp worker keyed up on the Buffalo airport site channel at 5:29 a.m. to pose the question: "Is your rat's name Shumi?"^[29] Whether Shumi is a colleague, a pet, or an aircraft callsign no one has heard of remains unclear.

Cheektowaga’s great grass-parking grievance

20:08 · Cheektowaga PD 1

A neighborly tip-of-the-iceberg call: "The left side is upset that there's a vehicle parked on the grass. They asked them not to park there three times."^[30] Radio 15 was sent to cover the complaint, with "a little bit of 100 on the phone" along the way. Statesmanship in radio form.

Wheatfield Dentistry, a Fastenal pole, and the Depew DPW driveway debate

05:08 · Depew Public Works

For about ten minutes during the dead-of-the-night shift, Depew Public Works had what sounded like an extended over-the-air landmarks workshop trying to identify the right driveway to cross a canal. The standout reference: "Almost, like Rob said, I think it's right by that Wheatfield Dentistry, that Fastenal."^[31] Whoever you are, Rob, you got there in the end.

A late-night jet bridge that went beep, then nowhere, at Gate 6

21:59 / 23:07 · American (BNIA)

An American Airlines ramp worker, mid-shift: "What happens when you try to go forward more?" Reply: "I have a beeping sound that doesn't move at all."^[32] An hour later: "We're having an issue with the jet bridge on 6 … we're trying to resolve."^[33] Thus does the second shift earn its overtime.

Auto into a structure on the East Side; full Buffalo Fire response rolls just after midnight

00:09 · Buffalo Fire Ch. 1 · East Side

Buffalo Fire Dispatch put out a heavy assignment for an "auto into a structure" call shortly after midnight, with Engine 21 leading and Rescue 1, plus engines and battalion chiefs F20, B45, F26, B44, B41, and F40 toned out behind it.^[34][35] The driver had "taken off from the scene," per the initial report.

Other Calls of Note

• 21:19 BFD EMS to 495 Jefferson, between Peckham and Broadway, for a person reportedly "punched in the face." Dispatch said no situation in progress on call-back.^[36]
• 22:31 BFD Truck 4-4-0 reported a stovetop cooking shutoff in apartment 509; "shutoff by cooking apartment 509."^[37]
• 19:11 NCFD Engine and T-Truck 1 to 11912 Niagara Falls Boulevard for an ALS-priority call — reported difficulty breathing and chest tightness in an elderly patient.^[38]
• 23:25 NCFD St. Johnsburg requested with Lucas device at 7174 / 7175 Clemson for a patient who "struck head, not breathing." CPR reportedly in progress.^[39]
• 00:19 NCFD Tone-out for 845 Foxwood Drive, between 7th Street and Oriole Lane; AMR responding.^[40]
• 21:32 LancFD Plum Hook, 146 Maple Drive, room 253 — 54-year-old fall with neck pain; hot response recommended.^[41]
• 23:17 LancFD Smoke-detector chirp run to 6016 Broadway, Colonial Meadows, Permit 3 — investigation only.^[42]
• 20:09 T-Hamburg FD EMS to 204 Sherbourne Drive between McKinley and Charlotte for a 34-year-old female with a possible stroke.^[43]
• 23:23 T-Hamburg FD Investigate-order to the Applebee’s at Big Tree and Woodlawn / Mile-Strip; routine call-out.^[44]
• 00:40 T-Hamburg FD 3659 Marlowe Avenue between Telford and Mundy — rectal bleed, difficulty breathing.^[45]
• 21:18 Orleans Co. 16768 Kendall Road, south side — 68-year-old female, difficulty breathing.^[46]
• 23:34 AmherstFD Ellicott Creek UMF call to 39 Roundwood Court (Upper Grand Point Drive area) for a Level-2 head injury after a fall.^[47]
• 04:33 Amherst PD Pepper Tree Drive, apartment two history — "your boyfriend is physically fighting. No weapons." Resolved without arrest on the air.^[48]