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Borden Road fire kills two dogs
 | | A CHILLY TASK ...Firefighters from five area fire districts battled this house fire Tuesday on Borden Road in the South Line Fire District. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation. (Times photo) |
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Fire investigators are focusing their attention on the kitchen of a Borden Road home for the cause of a Tuesday afternoon fire that swept through the structure, killing two dogs and rendering two persons homeless.
The blaze at 1032 Borden was reported at 3:40 p.m. by several passersby. South Line Fire Chief Doug Wilkowski said no one was home when the fire broke out, which likely gave the fire a head start before it was noticed.
Smoke was so thick that the vision of drivers traveling along Borden Road was hindered as the acrid clouds billowed across the street. Cheektowaga police closed Borden between Losson and Strasmer roads.
The smoke even forced officials at the Lord of Life Lutheran Church to evacuate its day care center directly across the street from the fire. According to Wilkowski, smoke alarms were activated at the day care center.
"I could see the smoke blowing across the street from Losson," Wilkowski said. "Traffic was stopped both ways because they couldn't see."
 | | CAMOUFLAGED FIREFIGHTERS ...Bellevue firefighters are almost obscured by heavy black smoke as they assist South Line firefighters with a house fire Tuesday afternoon on Borden Road. (Times photo) |
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Tuesday's cold weather hampered firefighting efforts, but making things worse was the cluttered home.
"It was just packed with stuff," Wilkowski said. "When we opened the garage door, it was packed from the front to the back. You couldn't take one step into the garage."
Firefighters made two attempts to battle the fire from inside the structure.
The first attempt was into the kitchen area, but the heat and flames drove back the firefighters.
The flames quickly spread to a hallway and then the attic. The building's "balloon" style constructed walls allowed the fire to rapidly spread to the attic. Balloon-style walls have open channels that extend from the basement to the ceiling, which enables a fire to quickly climb a wall.
Heavy smoke forced firefighters to evacuate the home on their second try at an internal attack.
"The smoke was getting so heavy that we knew the attic was going to light up on us," Wilkowski added.
A firefighting crew working on the second floor was forced to abandon its hose because the cluttered home did not provide adequate room to turn around with the hose in hand.
The roof caved in moments after firefighters evacuated the burning structure.
"The fire had a good head start on us but we might have been able to get to the second floor quicker if not for all the stuff," Wilkowski said. "It definitely impeded us because we couldn't make entry to the kitchen and living room."
Wilkowski further explained that the cold weather affected firefighters and prevented them from properly returning the hose to the fire engines.
"We couldn't roll it up, we had to put it in the back of our pickup truck and brought it back to the fire hall to thaw," Wilkowski said.
South Line's Engine 2 also had to thaw out after its intake valves froze up.
Two dogs perished in the fire, and a third is missing. Firefighters pulled one dog from the home, but it was already dead. The second animal was found in the living room.
Detectives Mark Jedd and Mike Hockwater of the Cheektowaga Police Department's Fire Investigation Unit continue to investigate the fire's cause. Jedd said that they were looking at the kitchen area for the fire's source.
Wilkowski said between 45-50 firefighters battled the blaze. South Line firefighters returned to service at 8:30 p.m.
The Red Cross was summoned to assist the two residents of the home, who returned to the house while firefighters were battling the blaze.
Bellevue firefighters assisted at the scene. Also helping out were firefighters from Doyle, Twin District in the Town of Lancaster and West Seneca's East Seneca Fire District.
Firefighters from Depew and Forks stood by at South Line's main fire hall on French Road. U-Crest firefighters were on standby at Bellevue's fire hall.
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