© 2024 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace
Buffalo, NY 14202

Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
WBFO Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Your NPR Station
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Lockport recycling company to breathe new life into site of massive 2016 fire

Mike Desmond
/
WBFO News
What the site of the fire looks like today.

A building severely damaged in a sensational Lockport arson fire in August 2016 will be partially coming back under a plan unanimously approved by the city Planning Board Monday evening.

Two teens started the fire at HTI Recycling. When the fire took off, one was left behind and died. The other one pleaded guilty to felonies and eventually the sentence given to a 14-year-old.

The fire ran on for days as the rubber used by HTI burned, sending vast dark clouds into the sky and spreading an odor over the area. Now, the company wants to restore part of one building that was damaged but not completely wrecked.

Credit Mike Desmond / WBFO News
/
WBFO News
Apex Consulting President Timothy Arlington presents photos of the site to the Lockport board.

Apex Consulting President Timothy Arlington presented the plan to the board Monday. Arlington told reporters the plan is about ready to go in the spring.

"It's about 17,000 square feet, a much smaller portion of a much larger building," said Arlington. "He wants to reuse the building after he determined that two of the main walls were still structurally safe and some of the structural steel. He has already gone forward to actually ordering some of the steel for the building, and our firm is working on a design for the connections and the integration of that steel to make this a structurally sound building."

Originally, it was part of a 50,000-square-foot structure. Arlington said some details of the plan still have to be completed and approved by city officials. He said key details remain undecided.

"It'll depend on the use," Arlington said. "If it's an open warehouse system, based on the size of the building, it will not require sprinkler system. If it's being used as a service building for vehicles, it either has to be partitioned off or it will have to have that. That'll be a decision (owner) Derek (Martin) will have to make, depending on what the use of the building is. And that's part of the fire code review that we do, of couse, with the city."

Credit Mike Desmond / WBFO News
/
WBFO News
A map of the sight shows where the proposed new building would be.

Mike Desmond is one of Western New York’s most experienced reporters, having spent nearly a half-century covering the region for newspapers, television stations and public radio. He has been with WBFO and its predecessor, WNED-AM, since 1988. As a reporter for WBFO, he has covered literally thousands of stories involving education, science, business, the environment and many other issues. Mike has been a long-time theater reviewer for a variety of publications and was formerly a part-time reporter for The New York Times.
Related Content