While driving down the 190 along the water at noon today we caught sight of a pretty big two-alarm blaze (top photo). The building in question is the operation center for the Leisure Living pool supply company located at 1130 Niagara Street (near W. Ferry). It was tough to get a good look at the building, but to get a better sense of the location just think about looking to the left as you travel down Robert Rich Way as you head down to Broderick Park. I understand that the brunt of the damage was done to the third floor before firefighters got the blaze under control. The smell of pool cleaning chemicals (such as chlorine) actually brought tears to the eyes of a couple people witnessing the scene from down towards the park.
This is the second fire incident on Niagara Street in the last couple of weeks. Last weekend I witnessed the teardown of two properties (second photo), including the former Danny Zack's bar (corner of Breckenridge). The source of that blaze was the vacant building next door - a structure that, according to an article in The Buffalo News, met its demise due to a combination of "City Hall bureaucracy, drug dealers, thieves and finally a fire." The fire also squashed the dreams of a family that had intended to convert the former nightclub into another such operation. David Torke of Fix Buffalo mentioned to me this morning that he would be interested in spearheading a fundraising effort for the family.
It's about time that The City takes a serious look at streets like Niagara. With the right plan of action, the latter scenario could be easily avoided. There is still an excellent inventory of buildings on the street, though if a plan of action is not developed the buildings on Niagara Street could, one day, be outnumbered by vacant lots.