fire

A grass fire has been reported in the area of mile marker 387, westbound lane, on the Thruway.

Town of Batavia Fire has been dispatched.

UPDATE 11:12 a.m.: Dispatch has received only one call on the fire. It's believed to be a small one, possibly started by a truck tire retread that came off and landed in the grass.

UPDATE 11:14 a.m.: An assistant chief has checked the Thruway and is unable to find any fire. In an unrelated incident, dispatch has also received calls about a large column of smoke behind Bj's Wholesale Club on Lewiston Road. It is a controlled burn.

UPDATE 11:16 a.m.: The controlled burn apparently has smoke drifting as far as the dispatch center on Park Road. It's been going all night and there was reportedly ash falling on West Main Street last night.

UPDATE 2:16 p.m.:  Earlier, Town of Batavia extinquished the fire. Now they're being called back to the scene.

A hedgerow fire has been reported in the area of 9163 Roanoke Road, Stafford.

Stafford Fire is responding.

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Le Roy Fire has been dispatched to a structure fire at 3556 Main Road, York.

Bergen has been requested to the Le Roy Fire Hall to fill in.

I've not heard if any other Genesee County units have been dispatched.

A dishwasher fire is reported at 9227 Robbins Road in Le Roy. The building is evacuated. Le Roy Fire Department and an ambulance are responding.

UPDATE (7:35 p.m.): A homeowner reports a cat is in the building. The fire is out. Crews are checking extension wires. A person from county Emergency Management is en route.

UPDATE (7:41 p.m.): Firefighters are in the basement making sure it is safe.

UPDATE (7:50 p.m.): A fire official on scene reports "The family cat has been located and secured and is in good health."

A fully involved car fire is reported at 4658 Route 20 in Bethany, near Francis Road.

It's off the roadway. Bethany Fire Department is responding.

A possible electrical problem is reportedly creating smoke in the house at 32 Canterbury Lane, Bergen.

Bergen Fire and Le Roy's ladder truck are being dispatched.

Mutual aid requested from Churchville.

A grass fire is reported along the south side of the CSX railroad tracks between Dublin and Beaver Meadows roads in Byron.

Byron, South Byron and Bergen fire units are called to the scene. There is a CSX representative at the scene.

UPDATE (12:20 p.m.): Bergen is asked to stand down. It is back in service. Both directions of the railroad line are being shut down while the firefighters are working to extinguish the blaze.

A caller reports tires burning on property located at 3788 S. Main St. Road. A Sheriff's Deputy is requested to the scene along with a brush truck from the Town of Batavia Fire Department.

A gas dryer is reportedly on fire at 1325 Broadway, Darien Center.

There is no structure fire at this time.

Darien Fire and Alexander Fire have been dispatched.

UPDATE 4:42 p.m.: It is now a structure fire. Corfu is also responding. Flames reported on the outside of the building.

UPDATE 4:48 p.m.: Broadway and Route 77 are being shut down. Batavia's Fast team is being dispatched.

UPDATE 6:18 p.m.: Firefighters continue to battle hotspots inside the house. The amount of smoking billowing from out of the attic has subsided substantially, but there's clearly still fire burning in the interior. In addition to Darien, Corfu and Alexander, companies from Alexander, Alden and Bennington are on scene. Route 5 remains closed, though 77 is open.

UPDATE 8:39 p.m.: All units back in service.

UPDATE: More pictures after the jump.

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Large amounts of smoke are reported behind a residence on Route 20, area of Asbury Road, in Pavilion.

The fire department is requested to the scene where furniture is possibly being burned behind the residence, according to dispatch.

UPDATE (2:10 p.m.): Fire personnel on scene verify it is a controlled burn of furniture and units are put back in service.

A grass fire, now deemed to be a controlled burn at the end of Coward Road, is reported -- nonemergency response requested from Byron, South Byron and Le Roy fire departments.

The area is south of the railroad tracks, east of the roadway, at 7404 Ivison Road.

The verified controlled burn means all units are back in service, standing down from this initial call.

The initial call was for a "couch on fire" at 5006 Ridge Road, Elba, but a chief on scene reports that actually, it's a riding mower outside the residence that is on fire.

Elba Fire is responding.

A motorcycle accident is reported between Pratt and Killian roads in East Pembroke.

A hand hip laceration is reported. Mercy EMS and East Pembroke fire are responding.

UPDATE (3:58 p.m.): Mercy Flight is requested. More manpower is requested to set up a landing zone in a hayfield located west of Killian and south of Slusher roads.

UPDATE (4:23 p.m.): Due to weather conditions, Mercy Flight is taking the patient to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.

A fully involved farm tractor fire is reported at 5552 Cochran Cockram Road in Byron. It is in the middle of a field with no structures surrounding it.

Byron and South Byron fire departments are called to respond.

UPDATE (1:28 p.m.): The tractor fire is about a hundred yards from a house. The address is between Transit and Bank Street roads.

UPDATE (1:30 p.m.): The fire is knocked out but the fire units are requested to continue.

UPDATE (1:35 p.m.): A fireman reports that the fire has rekindled itself.

UPDATE (1:51 p.m.): The fire is reported to be completely out and the firefighters are leaving the scene.

A car fire was reported on the Thruway -- the car was being towed by an RV.

The RV driver was reportedly initially unaware of the fire.  He under did eventually pull over at the Batavia off-ramp.

An assistant chief from the Le Roy Fire Department was in the area and heard Town of Batavia Fire being dispatched. He responded and knocked down the fire, which was reportedly under the car.

The motorhome was reportedly traveling along the Thruway for some time with the driver apparently unaware of the car fire.

There is a reported extension of the fire into the console. The vehicle has been disconnected from the motorhome.

A possible structure fire is reported at 27 E. Main St. in Le Roy, near Trigon Park. The caller reports the smell of smoke but nothing visible. Le Roy Fire and a medic are responding. A Bergen fire truck is also called.

UPDATE (1:45 p.m.): The Bergen truck is not needed. The residents of the apartment are not home, but firefighters checked the apartment and found nothing. However, a zoning officer is en route to inspect the premises.

UPDATE (2 p.m.): Le Roy medic is back in service. Le Roy Fire is also, having turned over the scene to the code enforcement officer and the property manager.

A straw fire has been reported on Britt Road near Keeney Road in Le Roy.

There's a small fire by the road and a "pretty good sized one" out in the field.

Le Roy Fire is responding with mutual aid from Bergen.

UPDATE 11:59 a.m.: Fires are out. Crews wetting down the fields for precaution.

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At least three companies from Genesee County are responding to a barn fire in Albion at 13823 W. Barre Road.

Dispatched are units from Elba, Oakfield and Alabama.

UPDATE 4:53 p.m.: Additional Genesee County units are being activated. Town of Batavia may already have an engine at the scene, an additional unit has been dispatched to the Albion Fire Hall to fill in. An East Pembroke engine is requested to Elba to fill in. Byron has also been dispatched. Orleans County firefighters are reportedly dealing with multiple incidents right now.

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(Update II at 2:19 p.m.)

A late night fire at a Presbyterian Church on the Tonawanda Indian Reservation may have been deliberately set, according to Tim Yaeger, emergency management coordinator for Genesee County.

The fire is under investigation by the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, the Alabama Fire Department and Yaeger's office.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster said the fire was spotted by a person driving by the church who saw an orange glow through the windows. He turned around, confirmed the fire and called dispatch at 11:05 p.m..

"It's on the further recesses of the reservation," Brewster said. "I'm surprised somebody was out driving by that church that late. Not a lot of people drive through there at 11 o'clock at night. It's very remote."

Quick action by three Alabama Fire chiefs who arrived on scene at the same time kept the fire from causing more serious damage.

Chief Bill Schutt said he and assistant chiefs Andy Merkel and Gary Patnode realized shortly after arriving on scene at 6978 Meadville Road that the biggest fire was confined to a piano, so they used extinguishers to put it out. They dealt with some additional flames using water in an ice cooler that had been left in the church. A fire hose was needed only to deal with some minor extension into a wall.

"Minimal water was used," Schutt said.

Brewster said whoever set the fire, set several small fires inside the building. No accelerant was used and because it was extinguished quickly, there was no structural damage.

The most serious damage was to the piano.

There are no suspects yet, though several church members and the original caller were interviewed. Because it's a church fire, and therefore a potential hate crime, ATF and the FBI were notified, per protocol.

Brewster described the church congregation as small and they meet only once a month with an out-of-town pastor conducting services. The church did meet yesterday.

"Our crew along with Indian Falls, who responded, too, did a good job," Schutt said. "It could have been much worse."

NOTE: I went to the scene to get a picture of the church, which is now boarded up, and when I spoke to a Tribal Council member, he said I couldn't publish the picture without council approval, and the earliest approval could be granted would be tomorrow. So, no picture.

A semi-truck reportedly has a brake fire and is stopped in front of the old Ponderosa restaurant at 12 Ellicott St., Batavia.

City Fire is responding.

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