Residents see and smell fire across WNY

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A massive fire has destroyed a local warehouse.

Early Thursday morning, flames and smoke from the fire could have been seen and smelled from miles away.

Damage is estimated at $4 million. $2.5 million is estimated for structural damage and $1.5 million is estimated for the building's contents. There is also $55,000 damage estimated to two nearby buildings that were exposed to the fire.

At noon Thursday, fire crews are battling some hot spots on Dingens Street. Earlier in the day, the scene was a massive four-alarm fire.

There is pretty much nothing left of the warehouse. It stored thousands of pallets of wood, motors and diesel fuel. Certainly a dangerous combination for a fire.

It was a massive inferno that went up in a matter of minutes.

"Completely occupied, really full to the brim warehouse, so we had a lot of fire and a lot of smoke and a whole lot of challenges," said

The old Tops warehouse, now Superior Pallets Incorporated, is still burning Thursday afternoon. It's mostly small hot spots that remain, as fire crews will likely spend hours more on Dingens Street, in the Kaistertown section of Buffalo.

Division Chief Scott Barry said, "It did cause some damage to the neighboring buildings but it didn't cause the damage that it would have caused if it hadn't been for what the guys who were working last night we able to do. They got their hose lines laid out and they protected what was close by."

Superior Pallets Inc. employee Joe Gervaise was driving to work Thursday morning and could smell the fire out near the Walden Galleria Mall.

Gervaise said, "I thought it was just truck tires burning, or something like that, truck having trouble and then I got closer and I tried to turn down Bailey and the cops wouldn't let me. I asked them what the problem was, 'Oh there's a big fire by the old Tops warehouse,' and I said, 'Oh no that's where I work,' so."

He says a coworker spotted the fire just after 4 a.m. Thursday.

"The one guy who gets here at 4:30, Rich, he went to open the door and seen a bunch of smoke and closed the door back up and called the fire company.

It took fire companies four hours to get the four-alarm blaze under control.

Inside pallets of wood, motors and diesel fuel sparked explosions all morning long, even during one of our interviews.

Surrounding businesses were cleared out, including Great Lakes Electronics.

"Went out side, ooked, and it looked like the sun was rising out of the north, flames were just insanely high," said Great Lakes Electronics employee Alex Szymanski.

Over at Citadel Broadcasting some morning show employees left. Bull from the Edge stayed and took video.

"After all of this we went on the roof and actually saw some burn marks on the roof," said Rich "the Bull" Gaenzler . "We were in jeopardy and it was only maybe a football, two football fields away from us."