BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A fire on the 15th floor of the Main Place Tower in downtown Buffalo proved challenging for firefighters and first responders, who dealt Friday morning with sub-zero temperatures and several flights of stairs just to get to the fire at the high-rise building.
According to the Buffalo Fire Department, 40 to 50 firefighters responded just after 5 a.m. for a fire inside a records rooms. Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield said the fire blew out a window and scattered hundreds of pieces of paper on the streets below.
"This is a very labor-intensive operation. High-rise fires are not something we normally have in the City of Buffalo," Whitfield said.
Firefighters had to haul buckets of foam, high-rise packs, hoses, and nozzles from trucks outside up to the staging area, all while wearing 75 pounds of gear.
"By the time these guys get up to the fire floor or the floor before the fire, we have to swap them out in order to have people go into the fire and fight the fire. Very, very difficult," Whitfield said.
Once the fire was put out, Whitfield said that crews hosed down the room with foam to smother smoldering debris. He tells us that room, and the spaces directly above and below it, were shut down due to extensive damage.
Employees who reported for work were sequestered in the lobby, and waited to see if their businesses would be closed or if they'd be allowed into their offices.
According to the Main Place Liberty Group, people who worked in the tower were eventually granted access to their respective floors.
We're told the areas affected by the fire were cordoned off with caution tape. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
It is unknown whether or not any people were in the building when the fire started.