ARSON EYED IN FIRE A T OLD RAIL TERMINAL
April 17, 1990
Author: LINE: By CHARLES ANZALONE News Staff Reporter
A fire that may have been caused by arson filled several floors of the historic New York Central Terminal with smoke late Monday afternoon but was extinguished after causing about $8,000 damage, fire officials said.
The fire started about 4 p.m. in a large stack of papers on the vacant fourth floor of the 20-story tower, according to Joseph Brocato, chief of the Buffalo Fire Department's 3rd Battalion.
"When I got here, there was smoke coming out of at least the 12th floor," Brocato said. "The main problem was trying to locate where the fire began."
Brocato said about 30 firefighters with air packs conducted a floor-by-floor search of the vacant East Side building off Paderewski Drive and Curtiss Street. After about 30 minutes, he said, they found a large pile of bills and records from the old railroad on fire, he said.
Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, Brocato said. No serious injuries were reported.
Brocato made a preliminary damage estimate of $8,000, mostly because of broken glass.
"If it was occupied, it would've been $100,000," Brocato said. "We're going to say it was started by vandals, but the fire is still under investigation."
Tom Telesco, owner of the historic building, said the terminal has been vandalized almost daily since he bought the property in October 1986.
"There were a number of vandalized types of fires recently, most of them much smaller than this," Telesco said. "There have been three in the last week."
Telesco said he could not estimate the damage because he did not enter the building. But he thought that the chance of structural damage was remote.
"That building is a bear," Telesco said. "The structural work is second to none. I can't imagine there being any structural damage from the fire."
Some small offices are located in other parts of the terminal, Telesco said, but the tower is vacant.
The 61-year-old Central Terminal was a hub of activity in the city before it closed in 1979. Since then, numerous developers have expressed interest in renovating it, using its unique architecture and central location for new businesses.
Copyright (C) 1990,2001, The Buffalo News Record Number: 9004170273