Silver Lake Daily Newsletter.com

Wednesday Morning 1-19-22:
News Briefs

BUFFALO BILLS TO FACE KANSAS CITY CHIEFS in 2021 AFC Divisional Round this Sunday, 1-23-22, 6:30 pm at Arrowhead Stadium and on the CBS television network. 

ATTICA AND MEDINA topped region's snowfall totals -- Medina topped the GLOW region with 22 inches of snow accumulations, according to the National Weather Service in Buffalo. Attica was second with 18 inches, followed by Batavia and Leicester with 17 inches apiece. Those numbers were based on official NWS data. One person contacted The Daily News to report more than 20 inches outside Warsaw. Several school closings were reported Tuesday, including Lyndonville, Medina and Dansville. Richmond Memorial Library in Batavia was also closed Tuesday due to an unexpected heating problem.

PERRY CHEERLEADERS WIN Schylar Hyer Memorial Cheerleading Competition -- For the second straight week, Perry cheerleaders competed without three team members, who were out with an illness, but still managed to take home a first place finish at the Schylar Hyer Memorial held at Bath Haverling High School last Saturday. Perry, coached by Cheryl Hayes, won the Varsity Division 4 class. Members of the first place team were Peyton Leitten, Madison Bradley, Destiny Hopkins, Anabel Bucknam, Emily Wagner, Julissa Vazquez, Makayla Leitten, and Jayda Hank.

THE SLEDDING HILL IN ARCADE --  The sled hill at the Village Park’s east end is open as weather permits. The hill is lit and available until 10 p.m. daily, officials said The hill is unsupervised, so sledding is at people’s own risk.

MORE INFORMATION on the tractor-trailer ramming into the back of the garbage truck on Rt. 63 Tuesday, catching fire and burning:

Story compiled and written by BRIAN QUINN-bquinn@batavianews.com 

Only smoking and gutted debris remained of a tractor-trailer after a fiery collision with a garbage truck Tuesday afternoon on Route 63. A large plume of thick, black smoke was visible from miles after the tractor-trailer caught fire. First Assistant Chief Tom Garlock said both trucks were headed south on Route 63 (Ellicott Street Road).

“The semi-truck driver said he looked down for a minute and then looked up and the waste management truck was there,” Garlock said. “He rear-ended the truck, causing the accident. It was blocking both lanes. The semi was hauling dairy products. The driver was taken to Rochester Regional Health-United Memorial Medical Center for evaluation.

The fire happened after the accident was out, Garlock said a few minutes before 4 p.m. He said the accident caused something in the semi’s engine to catch on fire, adding the smoke and flames while could be seen while coming down Route 63.

“Immediately, we pulled two lines off of Engine 24. With the amount of fire ... I called an engine from Stafford for manpower and also an engine from Oakfield to stand by at our hall just in case we needed more manpower,” he said. “We have two lines off our truck, a line off of Stafford.”

Garlock said the fire started, after the accident, in the semi’s engine compartment.

“Nothing inside the trailer was on fire except for the trailer portion of it,” he said. “We’ve got extensive overhaul to do. The DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) is en route. We have a lot of diesel fuel that spilled. Also, the power lines above the fire were affected,” he said.

National Grid was there to check things out and decide what to do about the wires, Garlock said. The assistant chief said it was uncertain how much diesel fuel was spilled as of about 4 p.m.

“One of the saddles on the passenger’s side was completely burst open,” he said. “We’re thinking between 50 to 100 gallons of diesel fuel at this time. There’s no storm drains in the area. We’ve got a lot of snow from the previous couple of days. The snow absorbed a lot of it.”

Garlock said he was unsure whether they would have to remove some of the snow with the diesel in it. He said the DEC would advise firefighters on what to do.

“We’ve got extensive cleanup to do. I’m unsure if we’re going to have to call in another specialized company for environmental issue,” he said.

“State troopers are on their way,” he said. “ ... Obviously, they’re both commercial trucks, so state DOT (Department of Transportation) will take over.”

The DOT was also bringing plows to the scene to deal with the water firefighters used, because the road was going to get icy soon, Garlock said.