Feb. 14--The Convention Tower in downtown Buffalo will be open for business today, even as repairs are made on the passenger elevator that incurred water damage during Tuesday's fire.
"The building's open tomorrow," co-owner David T. Kompson said late Tuesday afternoon.
No injuries were reported in the two-alarm fire on the eighth floor of the Convention Tower on Court Street, adjacent to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. Fire investigators are looking at careless smoking as a possible cause.
Damage was estimated at $300,000, with much of it caused by water as firefighters put out the blaze.
City firefighters were called at 10:52 a.m. by a secretary in the law offices of Morino and Naples. The fire apparently started in the firm's suite on the north side of the building facing the convention center below.
Smoke could be seen coming from the roof of the building's west tower and pouring out of a window on one of the upper floors, and firefighters could be seen trying to douse the blaze with hoses from the roof of the convention center.
"We thought it was a drill," said Debbie Sparks, who works for a law firm with offices on the ninth floor of the 12-story building.
Kompson, co-owner of the building formerly known as the Walbridge Building, said authorities are looking into the possibility the fire was caused by careless smoking.
James P. Naples had left his law office about 30 minutes before the fire, authorities said.
"[Naples'] secretary heard crackling in his office, so she opened the door and there was smoke. And she called 911," Kompson said.
He said several hundred people work in the building at any given time, and all got out safely, though authorities at one point were searching for one man who was unaccounted for. That man was eventually found in a 10th-floor office, and apparently was unaware that rescuers had been searching for him.
Kompson attributed the successful evacuation to the fact that building occupants practice fire drills on a regular basis. Tuesday afternoon, he also praised Buffalo firefighters for their success in confining the blaze to a small area.
"Frankly, a wonderful job was done by the Fire Department in containing it," Kompson said.
The building has power, Kompson said Tuesday afternoon, with the exception of the area where electrical service was cut off because of water damage.
The parts needed to repair the passenger elevator are expected to be on site early today, and the elevator should be functioning by noon, Kompson said.
Meanwhile, people who work in the building and visitors will have to use the stairs to access their destinations.
Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. gave his assessment of the firefighting effort. "We don't respond to high-rise fires every day; it's a different kind of animal," he said, "but our firefighters did a great job."
Whitfield said that it took a while to get up to the blaze "because our firefighters don't use the elevators," so the equipment had to be carried up eight flights of stairs.
The fire was declared out shortly before 11:30 a.m.
Tenants were evacuated to the nearby Rath County Office Building as officials assessed whether it was safe to let them return. People were allowed back in the building later Tuesday to retrieve their personal belongings, the fire commissioner said.
Court Street was closed to traffic between Niagara Square and Pearl Street, with traffic being diverted from Court onto Pearl.
At least a dozen emergency vehicles were called to the scene, including at least seven Buffalo fire trucks. Paramedics also were on the scene.
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