AMHERST, N.Y. (WKBW) — Hosing down hot spots, firefighters continued to fight a massive fire one day after Premium P.P.E. in Amherst went up in flames.
Officials said Tuesday night’s storms and Wednesday’s sun and heat made their jobs difficult. Help was sent from across Erie County and the state.
“We’ve been swapping crews out every few hours to maintain fresh bodies so people don’t get fatigued.”
The fire was first reported around 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. A handful of workers inside at the time able to evacuate safely. The warehouse was largely used for storing personal protective equipment like face masks. So, officials said they immediately monitored the air quality for any possible chemical hazard.
“We had monitoring going on almost immediately. It was all precautionary to evacuate people or shelter inside their houses.”
Nearby Stumpf’s Gymnastics Center was among the businesses asked to evacuate as a precaution. “That was unbelievable,” recalled Gym Vice President Kurt Stumpf. “It just happened so fast and so quick.”
Stumpfs and other area businesses were given the green light to reopen on Wednesday.
Investigators are working to determine a cause. I’m told it could take awhile before we know what happened.
