A pair of teenagers walking behind the Wiard Plow Co. building on Swan Street spotted smoke coming from a window in the back of the old factory building, so they went to a nearby business and called 9-1-1.

When city firefighters arrived, there was just a little smoke showing and after they made their way into the building, they found smoldering office papers. They were files left behind from a previous business that had been set on fire, according to Lt. James Steinbrenner.

While the fire appears to be intentional, or at least set by the action of some person, there was no accelerant, which would be used in a typical arson.

The fire may have just be a result of people who were hanging out in the building and lighting matches. Four partially burned birthday candles were found in a room adjoining the interior office where the fire was found. The fire did not extend beyond that office.

The burning paper was extinguished quickly by the City of Batavia Fire Department.

The way the paper was spread on the floor, it's possible somebody has been using it as bedding.

Access to the building is wide open through a back wall that is completely collapsed.

Genesee dispatch just informed incident commanders that National Grid is sending in crews from Syracuse to help with power-line issues.

No ETA. Also, a tree fell on a house at 2 Manhattan Ave. and the initial report was people were trapped in the house. An update says everybody is out of the house. There's also apparently an incident, possibly a tree into a house, on Ellsworth Avenue.

UPDATE 5:36 p.m.: Colby Road at Route 33 is being closed.

UPDATE 5:41 p.m.: Trees and wires down on Roanoke Road, East Bethany.

UPDATE 5:42 p.m.: Wires down at Rochester and Clinton streets in Bergen. There's also a report of a tree down, blocking, on Circular Hill Road.

UPDATE 5:53 p.m.: A wire is reported down on Route 98, south of Edgerton Road. Elba Fire is responding. The Circular HIll Road tree has been cleared.

UPDATE 6:19 p.m. Tree down, completely blocking at 52 North Lyon.

UPDATE 6:33 p.m.: Another tree is down on Gilbert Street, Le Roy, taking wires down and completely blocking.

UPDATE 6:36 p.m.: Report of a tree down blocking Old Creek Road near Cookson Road.

Tree branches are down in the area of 166 Summit St., completely blocking it.

At 9 Holland Ave., a tree is down and electrical wires are arcing.

Also, trees down blocking Macomber Road in Oakfield and a street in Bergen.

UPDATE 4:22 p.m.: A line is down and arcing on Route 77. Also, Batavia Fire is being dispatched to 71 S. Main St. for a tree limb on fire. A Le Roy Fire chief reports a limb down on Myrtle Street.

UPDATE 4:28 p.m.: In Le Roy, there are at least two limbs down on Myrtle, with one causing damage to a vehicle, plus one on Glibert Street. Le Roy is setting up a command post at the Fire Hall and requesting all available manpower.

UPDATE 4:30 p.m.: Fire Dispatch just notifed all fire personnel to go to various operational channels and keep radio transmissions to a minimum: "We have several emergencies to get out."

Update 4:35 p.m.: There is some sort of fire on West Bergen Road. Wires are down on Elm Street in Le Roy, also in Le Roy several tree branches and wires are down and arcing on Lake Street. There is also an incident on Washington Avenue in Batavia that has the street shut down.

UPDATE 4:38 p.m.: A tree has fallen on a house on Kibbe Avenue.

UPDATE 4:40 p.m.: There's a chain reaction of poles down and wires popping on Clipknock Road. There's also another pole down in Le Roy, but we didn't catch the location. Also several poles and wires down on Bethany Center Road.

UPDATE 4:43 p.m.: Somebody just said, "We've lost all power in the village." Not sure which village.

UPDATE 5:09 p.m.: National Grid is on scene on Erie Street in Le Roy for lines down.  Also on Oatka, a large tree is leaning on wires. Wires are intact. In Batavia, Jackson Street is blocked at Wood Street. Darien is being asked to check 9295 Colby Road for unknown wires down.

UPDATE: A tree has fallen into power lines on Vine Street.

A tree branch has blown into electrical lines in the area of 11095 Warner Road.

The branch is smoldering. Darien Fire has been dispatched.

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Le Roy Fire has cut up one tree on Platt Avenue today, and now a second tree has fallen blocking the stree in both directions.

Le Roy Fire is on scene.

Large trees have fallen on Vine Street, one of which struck a car, and on Tracy Avenue in the City of Batavia. This prompted a third batallion to be dispatched to the fire department.

According to the map of power outages from National Grid, there are more than two dozen power outages in Genesee County at the moment.

None, individually, effect more than 20 customers.

A groundhog spotted on Maple Street this afternoon.

A possible structure fire has been reported at 33 Swan St., Batavia.

Batavia Fire is responding.

UPDATE 2:08 p.m.: There has been a good deal of scanner traffic and any response to this did not come across.  We just drove by the location and no fire is on scene, so they must have cleared.

UPDATE 3:24 p.m.: There was a fire. A small one.  In one of the old Wiard Plow buildings.  The fire trucks were (duh) behind the building.  A separate post on the fire, with pictures, later.

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Wires are down and on fire, possibly igniting a grass fire at 1305 Bloomingdale Road, Basom.

Genesee County dispatch has received several calls.

Alabama Fire is responding.

UPDATE 3:33 p.m.: This call was cleared some time ago.  Alabama Fire just dispatched for a new report of a grass fire at the same location.

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A large tree has fallen at 2345 Beckwith Road in North Pembroke, between Slusher and North Pembroke roads. Traffic is being shut off to the road until it can be cleared.

A large tree and wires have fallen into the roadway at 6683 Warboys Road in Byron. Fire units in Byron and South Byron have been notified.

Wires have fallen into the roadway at Transit and Edgerton roads in Byron. Fire departments in Byron and South Byron are responding.

A large tree has fallen into a garage at 10 Prospect Ave. in the City of Batavia. No wires are believed to be affected. Batavia Fire is responding and will be using a chainsaw to remove the tree.

A large tree has reportedly fallen and is blocking he roadway in the area of 8626 West Bergen Road, Le Roy.

Le Roy Fire is responding to cut up the tree and remove it from the roadway.

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Electric lines are reportedly down and on fire in the vicinity of 65 South Main St., Batavia.

Batavia Fire is responding.

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Trees are down blocking the roadway at 3171 Dodson Road, between Attica and Griswold roads. Wires are possibly down, too. Darien Fire and Corfu have responded and will be using chain saws to clear the wood.

When New York reached an agreement with CSX for a high-speed rail line from Albany to Buffalo, it signed off on two provisions officials now seem to regret, according to the Buffalo News.

Rather than a rail line with trains reaching top speeds of 110 mph, the state's agreement only calls for speeds of 90 mph.

Also, the state agreed to a 30-foot gap between rail line along the CSX right-of-way.

The problem is, there are portions of the right-of-way that aren't even 30-feet wide, which means property will need to be bought (or seized through eminent domain) or overpasses will need to be reconstructed.

The resulting dispute between the state and CSX threatens to derail the entire upstate high-speed rail project — but to prevent that, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on Friday assigned a top federal rail official to try to resolve the issue.

“I promised Congresswoman Slaughter that FRA Deputy Administrator Karen Rae will work with the state and do whatever it takes to make high-speed rail happen for New York,” LaHood said after the meeting.

Slaughter, meanwhile, said she was thrilled that Rae — who was the state’s top rail official before moving to Washington — would be devoted full time to resolving the disagreement.

The rail line will pass through Genesee County, with a demonstration project already funded for a line between Byron and Riga.

The latest forecast for tonight's weather from the National Weather Service uses stronger language than earlier warnings to let residents know the thunder, lightning and wind hitting the area will be severe.

Doppler radar shows a severe thunderstorm, that could produce winds in excess of 60 mph, is heading toward Genesee County. The storm is currently 21 miles west of Grand Island and moving northeast at 65 mph.

"This is a dangerous storm," the Weather Service states. "If you are in the path, prepare immediately for damaging winds, destructive hail and deadly cloud-to-ground lightning. People outside should move to a shelter."

The severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until 3 a.m.

UPDATE 11:55 p.m.: The NWS declared the warning over at 11:45, saying the storm front had weakened.

It was after the Sheriff's lead investigator talked with Josh Doll, that Sheriff's deputies went to Joseph Benaquist's house and found him lying, bludgeoned and frosted over, in a pool of blood in his snow-covered driveway.

In Genesee County Court yesterday afternoon, the testimony of Investigator Kris Kautz included not only details about blood evidence and the crime scene, but also what happened after photos were taken of murder suspect Scott Doll at the Sheriff's station.

At some point in the wee hours of Feb. 17, 2009, Josh Doll called the Sheriff's station.

"He was curious as to what's was going on," Kautz said. "He asked where his father was that night, and I said I didn't know."

After talking with Josh, Kautz said he notified another officer of a friend of Josh's in the area, which was either Joseph Benaquist himself, or someone who knew both men.

Benaquist's body was found by Sheriff's Deputies at 1:33 a.m.

When questioned by Doll's attorney Paul Cambria, Kautz said he did not tell Doll that his son had called.

At 3:35 a.m., Kautz was told that two women were at the station to see Doll. About 15 minutes later, Doll's girlfriend and a former department of corrections coworker were taken to Kautz's office.

The former coworker wanted to speak with Doll, and she was allowed to do so, escorted by Kautz. Doll sat on a bench at a table in the center of a stark, 12-by-8-foot hearing room. The visitor stood a few feet away on one side and Kautz the same distance on the opposite side, ready to take notes.

Deputy Patrick Reeves, who had testified earlier on Thursday, was in an adjoining control room. The doors were open. Kautz noted the three-minute conversation thusly:

"I was there but I didn't do it," Doll told the woman.

"Did something happen in your head?" she asked.

"No"

"Did it involve an animal?"

"No"

"Tell me there's no dead body."

"I can't say."

"No matter what, you get a lawyer just the same," she said.

"Let the chips fall were they may," he replied. "I believe I'll be in jail for sure. It doesn't matter what lawyer I get. I'll get what I deserve, I guess."

(Reeves earlier testified that his report did not reflect what went on at the station house, and that he didn't hear the whole conversation. But he did hear the part where Doll says "I'm going to jail.")

The accused killer still had not been permitted to contact a lawyer.

Cambria asked Kautz about the investigation in the area where the body was found. Kautz said he was aware that officers from the City of Batavia and State Police, in addition to Sheriff's deputies, searched the area initially over a two-day period. But he wasn't present throughout that time.

Among Kautz's other disclosures was that there was no blood on the lone key found in Doll's pocket. He did not inspect the firefighter's head covering Doll had on when walking down North Lake Road. In March, Benaquist's home was searched, but Kautz was unsure how many times that was done. The victim's mobile phone was never sent in for forensic testing. No one looked to see if Benaquist had heirs, which could possibly have shed new light on the case.

Nor did Kautz attend the autopsy or personally search Benaquist's house or Doll's house, or interview any of Doll's stepsons, or investigate finances.

But Kautz did know that there were 19 blood specks on a vehicle photo taken at the crime scene. That there was a bloody footprint, and bloody leather work gloves were on the vehicle adjacent to the blood-smeared Ford Windstar minivan driven by Doll. That his size-10, white, Starter-brand sneakers were in poor condition and bloody and those overalls were bloody, too.

Photos of this were shown to the jury and entered into evidence. One of the photos of Doll's face with three flecks of blood on it was left up on the projector, larger than life on the wall, well after being shown to the jury.

During the jury's recess, an annoyed Doll asked co-attorney, Daniel Killelea, why are they showing all those bloody photos?

The jury already knew he was at the scene and, according to Cambria's opening statement, holding the mortally wounded Benaquist as he drew his last breath.

Is it grandstanding? Doll asked.

"It's puffery," Killelea replied.