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Fire breaks out at Cobblestone District buildings

Buffalo firefighters battle a blaze at two buildings on South Park Avenue in the Cobblestone District June 18, 2024.
Lori Overdorf
/
Buffalo Toronto Public Media
Buffalo firefighters battle a blaze at two buildings on South Park Avenue in the Cobblestone District June 18, 2024.

Firefighters spent one of the hottest days so far this year at a fire in downtown Buffalo’s Cobblestone District for multiple hours Tuesday.

Crews arrived around 8 p.m. at 110 and 118 South Park Ave. and spent more than two-and-a-half hours trying to keep the blaze from spreading. There were no injuries during the fire, according to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown.

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown plans to go live at 1 p.m. on Wednesday with more information about the fire. You can watch here:

Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Ronaldo said Tuesday night preventing overheating was a priority with the weather being so hot, especially since it was the same crew that responded to the recent fire that destroyed The Old Pink bar.

“That's where firefighter safety comes in,” he said. “They only had 24 hours of rest and recuperation, and now they’re fighting this fire.”

Ronaldo says the cause of the fire is unknown, but the building was vacant and there were no reports of people inside.

The buildings are some of the oldest in Buffalo, with 110 South Park Ave. being built in 1952 and 118 South Park Ave. being built in 1869.

Building owner Darryl Carr said he’s grateful Cobblestone Bar next door didn’t catch fire, but it will make demolitions tougher for the building that burned.

“We were closed for almost two years, so to incur another financial burden for Cobblestone would have been terrible,” Carr said. “This emergency demo is going to be a financial burden, also, because a normal demolition is less expensive.”

Carr had been seeking to demolish the buildings but has been in an eminent domain dispute with the Buffalo Common Council since 2022.