A car fire has been reported in front of the residence at 379 Martin Road, Akron.
Alabama Fire dispatched.
UPDATE 10:22 p.m.: Akron Fire was dispatched mutual aid, but told they can now stand down. Fire is knocked down.
UPDATE 11 p.m.: Alabama Fire back in service.
A one-car accident is reported at Alva Place by JCPenney in the City of Batavia. The driver hit a curb and possibly a light pole and reportedly seems disoriented.
Medics on scene report the driver missed the driveway and hit the curb.
Firefighters are there, too.
UPDATE 3:20 p.m.: A light pole was not struck. Medics are back in service and firefighters are returning to quarters.
A person suffered smoke inhalation following a fire in an electrical box at the car wash at 13 Liberty St. in the City of Batavia.
A city fire engine and Mercy medics are on scene.
UPDATE 3:07 p.m.: National Grid is called to the scene.
UPDATE 3:09 p.m.: The fire is knocked out and they are checking for any extension of it.
UPDATE 3:12 p.m.: Mercy unit is back in service with a patient sign-off.
Photos by Frank Capuano
A vehicle that was on fire near a house at 2560 Pratt Road has exploded. The fire is believed to have spread to the structure. East Pembroke Fire Department is responding along with a tanker from the Town of Batavia.
A firefighter says a large amount of black smoke can be seen from the Indian Falls bridge.
A woman at the residence who called 9-1-1 in a panic was told to evacuate the house.
The location is between Slusser and Powers roads.
"Be advised -- it looks like it hasn't spread to the house yet, just the vehicle in the driveway," says a responder.
UPDATE 2:37 p.m.: Town of Batavia is told "to take their time coming in."
UPDATE 2:39 p.m.: The fire is under control. They are looking for hot spots. Medics are called for a person who suffered some minor burns when the fire "flashed over."
A one-car accident with possible minor injury has been reported in the area of 10056 East Road, Bethany.
Bethany Fire Department and Mercy EMS responding.
Deborah An Dixon-Thatcher, 52, of North Lyons Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 3rd. Dixon-Thatcher is accused of breaking the windows, headlights and taillights out of her estranged husband's 1997 Nissan pickup truck while it was parked at a residence in Bergen at 1:55 a.m., Monday.
Hope Renee Conibear, 37, of Gibson Avenue, Oakfield, is charged with felony DWI, felony driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, failure to keep right and consumption of alcohol in a motor vehicle. Conibear was reportedly involved in a motor vehicle accident April 23 on Hutton Road, Town of Oakfield. The accident was investigated by Deputy Jason Saile.
Joseph Robert Waala, 38, of North Randolph Street, Arlington, Va., is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Waala allegedly damaged a metal fire hose box at 8250 Park Road, Batavia. He was jailed on $1,000 bail.
The following individuals were arrested and charged with trespassing for allegedly being on privately owned property at 5447 Main Road, Stafford, without permission: Ryan W. Caltagirone, 20, of Ellicott Street Road, East Bethany, Donald M. Fagan, 19, and Joshua T. Gilbert, 18, both of Ellicott Street Road, Batavia, and two 17-year-olds and three 16-year-olds, all from Batavia.
Katrina Le Brandes, 20, of South Main Street, Perry, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or higher. Brandes was arrested following an investigation of a reported domestic incident at 3:55 a.m. on Buckman Road, Bethany, by Deputy Jason Saile.
A car has struck a utility pole and at least one person suffered minor injuries in an accident on Cacner Road, Bethany.
Bethany Fire Department is responding.
City firefighters have been dispatched to the parking lot of UMMC to set up a landing zone for Mercy Flight.
The nature of the medical call is not known.
UPDATE 7:25 a.m.: Chief Chris Hayward said Dustin G. Nicometo, 24, called his mother at 4 a.m. and said he was OK, but would not divulge his location. The search for this morning was cancelled.
UPDATE 5:17 a.m.: A family member just sent a text message: "The young man has been found and is OK." No further details available at this time.
The search for a missing Le Roy man who apparently walked into Oatka Creek shortly after 10 p.m. has been suspended for the night.
The young man, whose identify has not been released, was last seen by a Le Roy police officer floating in the creek. All of his clothing -- except for his underwear -- were found downstream on an island in the creek.
"Our best hope is that he got himself out and doesn't want to be found yet," said Le Roy Police Chief Chris Hayward.
The missing man was described as intoxicated at the time he went into the water.
Hayward said the search was suspended because of concerns for the safety of rescue personnel. It's a moonless night and Oatka Creek is running high and swift.
Shortly before 11:30 p.m., Le Roy Fire Department was put back in service, though a Geneseo K-9 unit continued to try and track the man along the banks.
The search will resume at 6:30 a.m., if he hasn't turned up by that time.
Several family members were on scene and expressed both disappointment and understanding at the search being called off.
Mercy Flight was called in to for an air-to-ground search with spotlights, but could not locate him.
Le Roy fire personnel responded first with generators and lights and their own powerful flashlights, searching along the banks from the area of the footbridge down past the graveyard.
Bergen fire was dispatched to the area of Buttermilk Falls to keep an eye on the creek. Buttermilk Falls is approximately 1.2 miles down stream from where the search was centered.
When the search resumes in the morning -- if the young man doesn't turn up before then -- a State Police helicopter will be brought in to assist.
While at the Batavia Cemetery today, I met three young women doing a photo shoot.
The group leader was Jessica Wheeler (second picture, white shirt), whose degree in journalism hasn't led to a job -- not uncommon these days -- so she's going to beauty school. She's entering a national contest in hairstyling and the rules stipulate a character from a movie be used, so she decided on a female Madhatter from "Alice in Wonderland."
Wheeler is attending Salon Professional Academy in Buffalo.
The Madhatter is played by Lacey Christner, a recent grad of GCC who will be attending UB as a photography major.
The photographer is Danielle Schaffer, a Batavia resident.
Three more pictures after the jump:
A person is believed to have jumped off the footbridge over the Oatka Creek in Le Roy.
Le Roy Police are on scene. The person was last seen in the water, but it's unclear if he's still in the water.
Le Roy firefighters are asked to respond with a boat.
Le Roy Ambulance dispatched.
The subject went into the water "by the bike rack south of the footbridge." Unclear if he jumped or just went into the water.
UPDATE 10:15 p.m.: Chief requests generator and lights to the scene.
UPDATE 10:23 p.m.: Lights and thermal camera set up at Church Street. Nothing visible.
UPDATE 10:24 p.m.: A Le Roy officer has apparently found some of the person's clothing on an island in the creek.
UPDATE 10:28 p.m.: State Police helicopter requested to the scene.
UPDATE 10:30 p.m.: Bergen requested mutual aid to stage in the area of Buttermilk Falls.
UPDATE 10:37 p.m.: No confirmation yet of State Police helicopter being available. A Mercy Flight helicopter requested to the scene.
UPDATE 10:39 p.m.: Caledonia requested to stand by at Le Roy's fire hall.
UPDATE 10:43 p.m.: Mercy Flight in route.
UPDATE 10:46 p.m.: Geneseo K-9 in route.
When I decided to take a little time this morning to drive outside the city and see what kind of pictures I could take, I didn't set out to take pictures of roadside flowers, but when I started going through my photos tonight I discovered that's the main thing I did.
One of the great things about Genesee County in the spring is the explosion of color we see along our roadways.
Many of these species, I have no idea what they're called, so the more botanically aware readers are welcome to weigh in (the orange poppy and dandelions, I got, and above is some sort of daisy, I suppose). The bush with the white flowers at the bottom of this post is of particular interest -- I see them all over town, but have no idea what kind of bush it is.
A threat of rain (that never materialized) couldn't keep hundreds of people from descending on Main Street this morning for the annual Memorial Day parade.
The parade featured the Batavia High School marching band and flag team, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the city and town fire departments, Sheriff's Office and Police Department, along with local veterans groups and elected officials, among other groups.
More pictures after the jump.
And even more pictures on our photo purchase site. To purchase these or choose from the additional pictures at affordable rates, click here.
"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
This is found in the Bible, John 15:13, and it was quoted this morning at the Memorial Day ceremony held outside UMMC's Jerome Center. The speaker was American Legion Commander Ronald Konieczny.
“We know what’s in people's hearts, we know how people feel about our veterans. It’s a much better feeling today than what it was during Vietnam,” Konieczny said. "It is easy for one to believe that (Biblical) statement after witnessing the generosity and admiration shown by all those who attended today's service..."
The atmosphere was solemn but proud, as it was when plans were unveiled for a new monument to commemorate deceased soldiers from Genesee County. It will honor those killed in action during World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
This $250,000 monument is estimated to be finished in 2013; however, no building will be done before the old plaques, which were stored due to recent renovations, receive a proper military burial. The old plaques, which once stood in front of the hospital on North Street, are to be retired and then buried under the new monument.
Aside from individual grave sites, this commemorative monument will be the only permanent place in Batavia where friends and family of deceased soldiers can pay homage to their lost loved ones, and permanent it will be. The entire monument, plaza and tablets are going to be solid granite. To aid fundraising, the granite pavers used to make the plaza will be sold to families and inscribed with whatever special message is desired.
Though the announcement of the new memorial generated a lot of excitement, the service maintained its true purpose, which was honoring the heroism of deceased soldiers. Helen Laird and Adeline "Dolly" Gioia, two Gold Star mothers whose sons were killed in combat, were honored today as well as 178 soldiers who died between 2010 and 2011. For each soldier, an American flag was placed in the ground in front of the hospital.
Memorial Day is only one day of remembrance, but for the veterans and families of fallen soldiers it is more than that. It's a chance to show their respect for the sacrifices that their comrade or family member made. With the help of United Memorial Medical Center and those who attended the commemoration, that is exactly what was accomplished today
We are fortunate today to be enjoying a pleasant Memorial Day, a little overcast early but now the sun is out.
These photos are from the Batavia Cemetery. I'll have Batavia parade photos and some photos of Genesee County later today.
There are six small power outages -- all affecting fewer than five customers each -- in Genesee County.
There are three in Alexander in the area of Route 20 between Brookville and Putnam roads, and three in Pavilion in the area of Hawks Road.
UPDATE 11:12 p.m.: The size of the outages has expanded. The Alexander outage now effects 84 customers and the Hawks Road outage effects 211 customers.
An unknown type of fire has been reported in the back yard of 6972 Cole Road, Le Roy.
Le Roy Fire Department responding.
UPDATE 11:01 p.m.: Landowner on scene tells a chief he thinks it may be over by Bernd Road, so the chief is checking that area.
UPDATE 11:02 p.m.: Assignment being held to one truck for now.
UPDATE 11:03 p.m.: It appears to be a campfire.
UPDATE 11:05 p.m.: Le Roy assignment back in service.
At 10:26 p.m., doppler radar indicated a line of severe thunderstorms had formed and it was moving east at 40 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The storm is capable of producing cloud-to-ground lightning and people outdoors should seek shelter immediately.
The storms are along a line extending from Point Breeze to six miles east of Darien or along a line extending from 11 miles north of Albion to nine miles southwest of Batavia.
The storm is capable of producing damaging winds up to 60 mph and potentially damaging hail.
"These are dangerous storms," the weather service warns. "If you are in the path, prepare immediately for damaging winds, destructive hail and deadly cloud-to-ground lightening."
If indoors, the weather service warns people to stay away from windows.
The warning is effect until 11:45 p.m., a thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 1 a.m.
UPDATE 10:57 p.m.: The fast moving storm has passed through southern Genesee County and the warning for southern Genesee County is cancelled.
UPDATE 11:05 p.m.: The warning is now cancelled for all of Genesee County. A watch remains in effect until 1 a.m.
There are plenty of opportunities to pay respects to fallen soldiers in Batavia on Memorial Day. There are six observance ceremonies tomorrow, all during the morning with full military honors, wreath laying, rifle salute and taps. There's also a parade down Main Street.
Memorial Day Observances
City of Batavia Memorial Day Parade
Participants will gather at 9:30 a.m. at Eastown Plaza, located at 567 E. Main St. The parade begins at 10 and will proceed west on Main Street, ending at St. Joseph’s School parking lot at Summit Street.
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