Three-alarm blaze erupts at warehouse

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Fire crews were called to an empty warehouse on Elmwood Avenue Friday afternoon to fight a three-alarm blaze that sparked on the roof of the building behind Home Depot.

PHOTO GALLERY | See pictures from the scene of the fire

Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield said so many crews were called because it was hard to reach the fire inside the large, empty building. Crews were needed to fight the flames from above and below and they had to contend with a partial roof collapse.

Also, a back entrance was blocked by a concrete jersey barrier and a high lift from the Department of Public Works was brought in to move it. The Erie County Sheriff's Air One helicopter helped crews discover that the fire wasn't under control and additional work was needed to dampen down the flames.

The building is part of the Curtiss-Wright complex, where airplanes were made during World War II. A district fire chief, William Boland, was killed fighting a fire there in 1957.

None of the 70 firefighters who fought Friday's flames were injured.