LOCKPORT — Walnut Street Liquors was open for business as usual on Friday morning, just hours after Lockport firefighters responded to a fire at the plaza Thursday night.
Lakhwinder Singh, owner of Walnut Street Liquors, said he called 911 shortly after 9 p.m. when a customer came in and reported smoke streaming out of a vent on the west side of the building.
“It was coming out very heavy,” Singh said, but no smoke had entered his store, which is a separately constructed building.
When city firefighters arrived at the plaza at Walnut and Washburn streets, Assistant Chief Josh Wolck reported heavy brown smoke billowing from the portico that extended the entire length of the east side of the structure, however, no flames were immediately visible.
Like the liquor store, Jiffy Mart in the plaza was also open at the time and free of smoke. Customers and staff at both businesses were evacuated without incident.
The initial fire attack crew from Engine 7, led by Lt. Nick Kalbfliesh, deployed a hose line to the second floor of the building to search for victims and a fire source, but neither were found. A second crew led by Assistant Chief James Scapelliti began performing forcible entry into the first-floor storefronts on the east side of the structure to search for victims and a fire source but also found neither.
Because there was no lock box, firefighters had to use forceable entry to get into all the doors on the first floor.
“We like businesses to consider lock boxes, but we can’t force them,” Chief Luca Quagliano said Friday. The boxes provide an entry key to responders.
As crews continued to force open doors around the first floor of the building, a door in the back alley on the north wall led to a storage room where the fire was located and promptly extinguished.
Extensive overhaul was required in the portico area on the exterior of the building as the initial smoke venting from it led fire crews to believe it was the primary source of the fire. Overhaul was also conducted extensively between the first and second floor above the drop ceiling where a void space existed to allow such heavy smoke to spread.
“Because of the way that building was designed, it pushed smoke in a lot of different directions,” Quagliano said.
The fire chief also noted that Terry’s Corner’s and Wolcottsville fire companies were called to bring their water tankers to the scene because of an issue with the pumping station in North Tonawanda, which provides the city’s water.
“Our water comes in from the Niagara River,” Quagliano said. “The pump had to be reset and it takes a couple hours.
Fire damage was mostly kept to the northwest corner of the first floor in the storage room. The fire was brought under control within two hours of LFD’s arrival and suppression crews were complete within four hours.
No injuries were reported. Damage to the building was listed at $60,000.
Panels from the overhangs and soffits along the building’s Washburn Street side littered the ground Friday. A look through the door of Spicez International convenience store revealed a sagging hole in the drop ceiling from firefighters searching for the source of the fire.
Arlene Abrahams, owner of Spicez International, was in her store checking the damage. She said she had closed the business at 8:38 p.m. Thursday and got a call from responders at 9:13 p.m. about the fire.
She said the store was expected to be closed for a month for repairs. While her food inventory would need to be discarded, Abrahams said, chemicals like cleaners could be sold.
Abrahams was also leasing the store next door, and was about to open a Caribbean restaurant, she said.
A notice was placed on the door of Jiffy Mart Friday morning deeming the building unsafe, according to Channel 4 News.
Meanwhile, Walnut Street Liquors cashier Katie Heal said there was barely an odor of smoke when she opened, and it was quickly aired out.
Singh said the firewall did its job, and he had not discovered any damage to his store.