NIAGARA FALLS: Firefighters respond to Cleveland Avenue blaze

Local News

March 11, 2010

By Rick Pfeiffer The Niagara Gazette Thu Mar 11, 2010, 07:33 PM EST

A fire sparked by careless cooking could have set off something much more serious in a Cleveland Avenue home on Thursday.

A neighbor, who spotted smoke and flames coming from a home at 1637 Cleveland Ave. just before noon Thursday, told Falls fire fighters that people may have been trapped inside.

“When the first firefighters arrived, they found heavy smoke and fire coming from the structure,” Falls Fire Chief William MacKay said. “But no one was found inside.”

MacKay said fire fighters entered the two and half story wood frame home and found flames on both the first and second floor. It appears the fire started in the home’s kitchen.

“We believe it was unattended cooking (that caused the fire),” MacKay said.

The chief said there were no working smoke detectors in the home and that may have allowed the fire to go in intensity before fire fighters were called. The rapid spread of the fire could have caused worse problems had it reached the attic of the home.

“As we were overhauling (after the fire was extinguished), we discovered a cache of illegal fireworks in the attic,” MacKay said. “The fire was burning right below where the fireworks were. These were not firecrackers, they were high end fireworks.”

MacKay said if flames had ignited the stash of explosives, the result would have been “pretty spectacular.”

Fire damage has been set at $45,000 and the Red Cross is assisting four people, including adults and children, left homeless by the blaze.

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