AMHERST, N.Y. — It has been described as perhaps the largest fire in the history of the town Amherst.
And when it broke out during the late afternoon of July 20 the smoke, which could be seen for miles, closed the adjacent New York State Thruway and changed traffic patterns for planes using the nearby Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
And though a cause has yet to be officially stated, it's already prompted legal action.
The enormous blaze at 120 Earhart Drive summoned hundreds of firefighters from dozens of Western New York departments, and took more than 8 hours to bring under control.
Along with destroying a warehouse and the contents within it, the fire rousted several tenant businesses from their front office areas which remain vacant today.
Flames Fuel Legal Action
One week after the fire, several businesses which occupied the building as tenants filed a summons and request for relief against the building's owner which is named as the defendant.
In court papers, the tenants contend that "upon information and belief, the negligence of the Defendant resulted in a fire causing significant loss to the Plaintiffs."
The attorney who filed the case on behalf of the plaintiffs, Paul Joyce, politely declined comment when reached by 2 on Your Side on Tuesday morning when we asked him what type of negligence may have occurred which led to the fire.
Investigation Still Not Complete
While it's believed the fire was electrical in nature, ten weeks after it occurred there is no official cause listed.
"Right now the town of Amherst is leaving that open," said Town Supervisor Brian J. Kulpa.
According to Kulpa, it could be several more weeks before the town fire inspector, and several different insurance companies representing all the different parties present conclusions from their separate investigations.
"It's going to be a little bit of a process here," said Kulpa. "There's a lot to this and there's a lot of claims involved as you can imagine."
That also explains in part why the now rusting skeletal remains of the building still stand, much as they did just after the flames were extinguished, more than 2 months later.
Demolition May Not Come Until Late Fall
"Until the insurance investigations and all of that comes to a conclusion they're not gonna take the building down," said Kulpa. "It still presents evidence and they have the ability to look at that and disagree with each other and go back and reinvestigate."
Because it is located in an industrial park, the burned out structure may not be an eyesore to nearby residences. However, it is a visible reminder of what occurred to thousands of motorists passing along the adjacent NYS Thruway.
Kulpa said demolition permits are already in order pending the outcome of the ongoing investigations.
"I would hope they come to a conclusion sometime within a month. We certainly would like to see them execute demolition before snow flies," he said.