TRICIA CRUZ
WIVB
Reprinted with Permission

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - Buffalo's bravest avoided a potentially explosive situation on Wednesday. Firefighters made an alarming discovery inside the burning home.



Firefighters had no idea they were walking into a raging house fire with propane tanks that had been stored inside, all they had been told was that an elderly man lived there.

His car was out front, so crews rushed in and tried to search for him as best as they could, but we're told the house was filled with junk and debris. That made it tough to move around. Facing one challenge after another, crews were soon ordered out of the house for their own safety and it was on their way out that they noticed and picked up some propane tanks.

Division Chief John Mogavero of the Buffalo Fire Department said, "The fire conditions were just horrendous in this one. The wind was blowing; we had a lot of combustibles in there. We had some containers of propane; we don't know what else we had inside. The fire took off and we ended up pulling companies out for the safety of the firefighters at that point since there was nobody inside to search for anymore. We pulled the firefighters out and went defensive on this."

It turns out the man who lived at the house was not home at the time of the fire. Investigators don't know why he had propane tanks in the house. No one was injured, but the fire caused $150,000 in damage. The cause is under investigation.

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