AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD
Village zone, Clarence, and the one-mile ring →
BNIA — ALERT 2
Trash Can Fire on the Airfield Triggers a Buffalo Airport Alert 2 at 22:31
Amherst Fire dispatch toned a full airport alert at 4200 Genesee Street; the “500 goes to structure” turned out to be the top of a garbage can, extinguished before the pumper rolled.
Amherst Fire dispatch keyed the alert at 22:31 Friday night: “Williamsville Airport have an airport alert, 4200 Genesee Street, Buffalo Airport, alert 2, alarm 1, one pumper is standby, 2231 air start.”[12] The Alert 2 / Alarm 1 designation is the smallest possible airport callout — a single pumper standing by — and within two minutes the cause was on the air. “Turn, top of garbage, was extinguished, 500 goes to structure, dealing with APD and AFI,” dispatch transmitted at 22:33, then handed the scene off to Amherst Police and the airport's own fire investigators.[13] Ellicott Creek 392 reported “driver sight seen, light is up” on the same minute and the channel went quiet on the call. The unusual part is that it happened airfield-side at all — a refuse-can fire close enough to a building to bump it from a routine ARFF run to a full airport-alert classification.
AMHERST — KNIFE CALL
Party with a Knife Detained in the Back of a Patrol Car at 139 East Somerset
Amherst PD held the air at 15:04, did an interior check of the address, and pulled returns on at least three people before the call wound down.
At 15:04 Friday afternoon Amherst PD radioed that “we have the party that allegedly had the knife detained right now in the back of a patrol car” and asked dispatch whether that was the same party that had been outstanding earlier in the day or a separate one.[1] A patrol unit followed up almost immediately with a second call — “possibly was an airsoft gun” — suggesting the knife party and a separate weapons call may have been running in parallel.[2] Dispatch tightened the air for an interior check at 139 East Somerset, and units ran NCIC returns on at least three names over the next fifteen minutes, with each subject coming back “negative F2” (no warrants). The patrol-channel atmosphere — “Keep the air clear” from the lead car, the rapid-fire alphabet phonetics, the choreographed wait-and-clear — carried more weight than the eventual paperwork; nobody was reported booked on the channel by the close of the afternoon block.
SWORMVILLE — DECK FIRE
Outside Deck Goes Up at 38 Odessa Court Just Before 04:00; East Amherst Rolls Auto Aid
Storm 091 and East Amherst 9-1 responded behind Amherst Fire; closeout damage estimate came in at $15,000 with no injuries on the air.
At 03:52 Saturday morning Amherst Fire dispatch toned out an outside-deck fire at 38 Odessa Court in the Swormville section of East Amherst, with East Amherst Fire on automatic mutual aid.[15] Storm 091 was responding by 03:53 and East Amherst 9-1 was on the road at 03:54, both pulling for Odessa Court. By 04:49 dispatch was closing the report on the air: “Spreads with the vinyl deck… Pollution is about 15,000… we are back in service.”[16] The damage figure — quoted as “$15,000” on the closeout — was for the deck itself; no transport of any occupant was announced on the channel, and the structure behind the deck appears to have held.
WILLIAMSVILLE — LOITERER
Patient Who Missed an Appointment Still Sitting in the Williamsville Psychiatry Lot
5904 Sheridan Drive, 18:20: complaint from front desk that a black Ford Explorer hadn't moved an hour after the missed visit; manager was off-site.
At 18:20 Friday evening Amherst PD took an “unwelcome guest” complaint at Williamsville Psychiatry, 5904 Sheridan Drive, where the manager was not on location and a patient who had missed his appointment an hour earlier was still parked in the lot in a black Ford Explorer.[6] The clinic itself made the call, not a neighbor. Patrol ran the plate (Michael-Adam-Yankee-3437) but did not announce any custody or transport on the air; the call faded from the channel after the readback. The detail is that the practice felt strongly enough about a single lingering car to dial Amherst PD on a Friday night rather than wait for the manager to come back the next day.
AMHERST — DOMESTIC
“Hit and Choked Her” — Overnight Domestic with Extensive History on File
01:52 Saturday: parties separated to opposite ends of a living room; Amherst PD on the air noted a long history between the two named subjects.
Just before 02:00 Saturday, Amherst PD aired the substance of a domestic call: “Hit and choked her. He's currently in the living room and they appear to be separated.”[14] A minute later the on-scene officer told dispatch “We have extensive domestic history here between a male half, Abu Bakr, Nahid, and Musharat, Sonny,” and asked dispatch to check whether either party was negative as to an order of protection.[14] No transport was announced on the channel, and the call dropped off the air after the IVOP query. The brief is including the named individuals because they were broadcast on the open dispatch channel and the on-scene reading is the only context that explains the patrol cadence on the rest of the early-morning block.
AMHERST — BRUSH
Small Brush Fire in the Woods Off East Somerset — Kids Flagged Down the Engine
Ellicott Creek 91 picked it up at 21:23 and called it knocked down by 21:24. New York Clear was notified for the woods detail.
At 21:23 Friday evening Ellicott Creek 91 was already pulling east on Wehrle when the air carried “Yeah, I got some kids flagging me down,” followed by “Got a small brush fire in the woods… off of East Somerset.”[8] The unit went New York State Clear within the minute and called the fire extinguished. Ellicott Creek units were then redirected to a separate Sunridge call — a small ground fire in someone's yard — and stood down by 21:41 with that one extinguished as well. Two small fires in roughly fifteen minutes, no injuries on the air.
AMHERST — ALARM
Two-Story Commercial at 5590 Main Street Investigated for a Fire Alarm; Mail Function Suspected
Williamsville Engine 1 worked the call at 16:38; the on-scene IC asked permission to reset the panel after pulling apart the readouts “in quarters.”
Amherst Fire dispatch sent Williamsville to a general fire alarm at 5590 Main Street at 16:38 Friday afternoon — the channel's first transmission was the dispatcher offering “final information” on the call.[4] By 16:41 the on-scene officer reported “Allocation, two-story commercial, nothing short of investigating,” and Engine 1 worked the panel.[5] At 16:45 the IC asked “I'm going to fold everything in quarters. We're investigating a mail function. I'm going to go for a reset now.” No further escalation was announced on the channel. The building is a two-story commercial address on the Main Street corridor between the Williamsville village line and the East Amherst commercial run.
AMHERST — WALKED BILL
Black & Blue Steakhouse Reports a Walked Check at 5493 Sheridan Drive
21:35 Friday: subject described as a black male with dreadlocks in a dark t-shirt, last seen on foot; no fight, no damage, just the check.
Amherst PD took the call at 21:35 Friday evening: “Take the Department of Services, the Black and Blue Steakhouse, 5493 Sheridan Drive. Got a black male with dreadlocks, a dark-colored t-shirt that just walked out on his bill.”[9] Patrol said they were also “pretty close” and were going to check the area in case the subject was still nearby; nothing further came over the air. Standard restaurant theft-of-services call, included here only because it's a named property and the cadence on the channel was unusually crisp for a Friday-night patrol.
AMHERST — DOMESTIC
Red Roof Inn at 42 Flint, Room 241: Twelve-Year-Old “Throwing Stuff at the Sun”
21:38 dispatcher's plain-English readback: “The 12-year-old that's not listening to mom throwing stuff at the sun.” Patrol cleared in minutes.
Amherst PD took a domestic at the Red Roof, 42 Flint Road, room 241, at 21:38 Friday: a 12-year-old “not listening to mom” and described on the air as “throwing stuff at the sun.”[10] Whatever the literal scene, the call cleared at 21:39 with the patrol unit going 10-7 and no further transmissions on the address. A textbook example of why hotel-room calls dominate the late-afternoon block in this jurisdiction.
AMHERST — HOTEL
Hours-Long Argument at the New Motel 6 on Innkeepers Lane
23:09 disturbance call at 125 Innkeepers Lane, room 303; building secure on arrival, unit returning by 23:10.
Amherst PD was sent at 23:09 Friday to “the new Motel 6, 125 Innkeepers Lane, room 303, for people who have been arguing for several hours.”[23] By 23:10 the responding car was already calling the building “appears secure” and announcing a return. No transport, no custody, no further follow-up on the channel. Worth flagging only because the “new Motel 6” phrasing — volunteered by the dispatcher — suggests Amherst PD considers Innkeepers Lane a recent enough addition to the call-out vocabulary to keep tagging it.
OVERHEARD: THE WIRES
The signature feature — sixteen hours of the human radio →
“That deer needs attention tonight or can that wait till tomorrow?
— Amherst PD to dispatch, 21:43, just after a brush fire and just before a Red Roof domestic. Dispatch said tomorrow was fine.[26]
WHAT THE…?!
The Bills' Birding Hour: Lake Erie URMIB Reports a Boat with Two People and a Dog “Up Against the Rock”
At 17:04 Friday a Coast Guard Marine 16 transmission read out an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast for “a vessel with two persons on board and a dog up against the rock” off Buffalo.[20] “All vessels in the area are requested to keep a sharp lookout, assist if possible, and report all sightings to the United States Coast Guard. Break.” The Listening Post is rooting for the dog.
RADIO STAR
FRS 16's 11-Minute Soliloquy: Warplane Museum, Concrete Antennas, and the GMRS Repeaters of Livingston County
Across nine separate keys between 01:17 and 01:28 Saturday morning, a hobbyist on FRS Channel 16 monologued from his pickup truck about the Western New York Warplane Museum off to his left, an antenna swinging straight up out of his truck bed, listening to local law talks from “the other side of the plant,” and his network of GMRS repeaters for Livingston County.[27] “That, like, helped out tremendously.” Late-night FRS at its finest: radio about radio about radio.
SMALL TALK
Amherst PD's Lunch Run: “I'm Going to Go to the Pubs Real Quick. And That'll Be Rachel's Mediterranean, Bro.”
At 15:21 Friday afternoon an Amherst PD officer keyed up with “I'm going to go to the pubs real quick,” followed by “I got no gas,” immediately corrected by a second unit to “And that'll be Rachel's Mediterranean, bro.” Three transmissions, one shift change, and an Amherst-PD-endorsed lunch venue all in five seconds of air time.
ALPHABET CITY
Amherst PD Phonetic Theater: “Lincoln Union Charlie Henry Ida Nora Adam — First Name Lucino”
The afternoon block was wall-to-wall alphabet runs as Amherst PD pushed name-and-DOB checks through dispatch. The standout came at 15:29: “Last name is McRae, it's going to be Michael Charlie Charlie Robert Adam Yankee, first name is Terrell, Tom Edward Robert Robert Edward Lincoln Lincoln, middle is Ivan Ida, 5-11-0-11.” Across the window Amherst PD ran at least eight discrete phonetic spellings; the Lucino — Lincoln-Union-Charlie-Henry-Ida-Nora-Adam — gets style points for finishing on “Michael, 11, 09, and 73.”
BUS DRIVER LIFE
Embassy Suites Shuttle Choreography: Doubletree, Wyndham, Ramada, Sun Center, Repeat
From 16:08 through 16:21 Friday afternoon the Embassy Control trunk on the Niagara Region system was a stage play. Blake the dispatcher checked in with Jason the driver, asked if “he gave you a phone” (twice), then directed the bus “to the garden,” agreed to “slide if you don't mind,” and ultimately routed Jason: “Once I drop off the guests at Ramada, I'll head back over to Wyndham.” Embassy Suites' Niagara Falls operation is running a small empire of borrowed buses and shared loaner phones.
BFD HOUSEKEEPING
Buffalo Fire Dispatch Has Had It with the Alarm-Office Phone Tree
At 16:17 Friday BFD Channel 1 issued a public housekeeping note over the open radio: “If you hear your call announced over the radio, that is a legit call for this time frame… In an effort to catch up to kids… Five minutes, you will be receiving printers and firehouse computers. Do not call the alarm office to see if that is a current call.”[Buffalo Fire dispatch, Erie County trunk, 16:17:43] Translation: please stop phoning to confirm what we just radioed.
CHEEKTOWAGA
“We're Just Checking That He Had a Gun” — CPD's Casual 04:39 Aside
At 04:39 Saturday morning Cheektowaga PD 1 radioed unit-to-unit, “93 to 94, where you at? We're just checking that he had a gun.”[17] The line itself — flat affect, mid-tour, no flagged severity — was the only context the call ever got over the open air. Two hours later, a parallel Cheektowaga incident produced the line of the morning, transcribed verbatim: “and is domesticated by the victim's ex.”[18]
REGIONAL BLOTTER
WNY-wide, brief mentions only →
LANCASTER — SPEEDWAY
Race Car Hits the Wall at Lancaster Speedway; 72-Year-Old Driver Pulled Out with Chest Pain
20:15 Friday: Lancaster FD-1 toned EMS 57 to Gunnville Road at Lancaster Speedway for a wall strike. ALVAC and AFI assigned on the readback.
Lancaster Fire Dispatch toned EMS-57 to Gunnville Road at Lancaster Speedway at 20:15 Friday evening — “a race car that hit a wall… 72-year-old male, alert and conscious.”[7] The dispatcher's first readback called the patient “unknown injuries;” the second readback, seconds later, upgraded the chief complaint to chest pain. ALVAC and AFI (the Lancaster-area ALS service) were marked responding at 20:20. No transport hospital was announced on the channel, but the driver was conscious and out of the car by the time the second unit had its run number.
BUFFALO — OVERDOSE
Possible Overdose Inside a Brooklyn-Block Building; Engine 3 Takes the Report
21:48 Friday: BFD Ch1 dispatched on a possible OD; eight minutes later, a man-down call rolled out for Broadway at Jefferson with multiple units.
Buffalo Fire toned a possible overdose at 21:48 Friday[22], and at 22:22 BFD dispatched Engine 3 and Angel 1 to North Division and Broadway/Jefferson for “a male unconscious” and “a man down,” with a separate ECC seizure call at 181 Ellicott eight minutes later[11]. The dispatcher signed off the OD call as “Brooklyn Fire” on the readback — a transcript artifact preserved here because every other line ahead and behind makes clear the agency was BFD.
N. TONAWANDA — ALARMS
Two General Fire Alarm Activations from Apartment 207 at 1110 Pine Avenue
20:41 Friday: NC FD Dispatch sent Tonawanda Engine 6 to the Pine Avenue apartments for two simultaneous fire-alarm activations on the same unit.
At 20:41 Niagara County Fire Dispatch toned Tonawanda Engine 6 to 1110 Pine Avenue (the Bishopton Apartments) for “two general fire alarm activations coming from apartment 207… using door number 1 for two active fire alarms.”[21] The double-activation language is the small detail — two parallel zones, not a single trip — though no follow-up on cause came over the air before the channel moved on.
Other Calls of Note
Compressed bulletins →
15:43 — Amherst: Grass fire in the area of an “extended space 125,” address read out as 1543 Emerson. Ellicott Creek 91 worked it.[3]
16:33 — Schools (Erie) / GI Central: Bus dispatcher narrates the I-190 backup: “Teresa, can you tell me what is going on on the 190 coming back? It's like crawling.” The reply on the open channel: “It's Friday, Betty Jo, Friday.”[19]
21:35 — Niagara County: NC FD Dispatch staged Niagara County Sheriff at the fire tower at the TSTF for an incident on Sunset Drive; channel moved to SDTAC-1.
22:30 — Buffalo: BFD added a seizure call at 181 Ellicott to the same units handling the Broadway/Jefferson man-down.[11]
02:00 — Amherst: Deer struck in front of AutoZone, 3311 Sheridan Drive; tow advised.[25]
23:28 — Amherst: Dandelions bar at 1340 North Forest Road called police on a kicked-out customer lingering in the lot; staff had stopped serving him “a couple of hours ago.”[24]
05:44 — Amherst: Commercial alarm at Lloyd's Taco Factory, 5933 Main Street — rear overhead door zone.
17:49 — Buffalo: BFD Defender 1 / Engine 2 / Ladder 2 dispatched to 42 West Chippewa (Bada Bing) on a commercial alarm activation. No fire signs reported on air.
04:09 — Amherst: Patrol noted a subject “showing on parole for robbery in a second” during a routine NCIC check; no custody announced.
Sources — Audio Files Cited
- [15:04] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 15-04-36 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 15-04-49.mp3
- [15:04] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 15-04-02 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 15-04-08.mp3
- [15:43] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 15-43-37 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 15-43-43.mp3
- [16:38] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 16-38-36 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 16-38-45.mp3
- [16:41] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 16-41-59 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 16-42-04.mp3
- [18:20] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 18-20-35 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 18-20-53.mp3
- [20:15] Municipalities / Lancaster FD D1 — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Municipalities\05-29-26 20-15-50 - Municipalities - LncstrFD D1 TO 20-15-59.mp3
- [21:24] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 21-24-40 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 21-24-45.mp3
- [21:35] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 21-35-34 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 21-35-49.mp3
- [21:38] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 21-38-56 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 21-39-06.mp3
- [22:22] Erie County / BFD Ch1 Disp — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Erie County\05-29-26 22-22-41 - Erie County - BFD Ch1 Disp TO 22-22-49.mp3
- [22:31] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 22-31-18 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 22-31-27.mp3
- [22:33] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 22-33-28 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 22-33-34.mp3
- [01:52] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-30-26 01-52-29 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 01-52-43.mp3
- [03:52] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-30-26 03-52-01 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 03-52-10.mp3
- [04:49] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst Fire Dis — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-30-26 04-49-07 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst Fire Dis TO 04-49-16.mp3
- [04:39] Municipalities / Cheektowaga PD 1 — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\Municipalities\05-30-26 04-39-34 - Municipalities - Cheektwga PD 1 TO 04-39-41.mp3
- [06:03] Municipalities / Cheektowaga PD 1 — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\Municipalities\05-30-26 06-03-58 - Municipalities - Cheektwga PD 1 TO 06-04-05.mp3
- [16:33] Schools (Erie) / GI Central — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Schools (Erie)\05-29-26 16-33-48 - Schools (Erie) - GI Central TO 16-33-55.mp3
- [17:04] Maritime Ops / Marine 16 — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Maritime Ops\05-29-26 17-04-52 - Maritime Ops - Marine 16 TO 17-05-02.mp3
- [20:41] Niagara County / NC FD Dispatch — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Niagara County\05-29-26 20-41-52 - Niagara County - NC FD Dispatch TO 20-42-01.mp3
- [21:48] Erie County / BFD Ch1 Disp — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Erie County\05-29-26 21-48-24 - Erie County - BFD Ch1 Disp TO 21-48-29.mp3
- [23:09] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 23-09-52 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 23-10-03.mp3
- [23:28] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 23-28-04 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 23-28-21.mp3
- [02:00] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-30-26 02-00-36 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 02-00-45.mp3
- [21:43] Amherst-Clarence / Amherst PD — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-29-26\Amherst-Clarence\05-29-26 21-43-00 - Amherst-Clarence - Amherst PD TO 21-43-03.mp3
- [01:17-01:28] FRS / FRS 16 — E:\ProScan Recordings\05-30-26\FRS\05-30-26 01-17-26 - FRS - FRS 16 TO 01-17-45.mp3 (plus 01-21-27, 01-23-27, 01-25-55, 01-28-13 in the same hour)