Texas Firewalkers

July 18--Buffalo firefighters have brought under control a three-alarm industrial fire at a titanium recycling plant in the city's Clinton-Babcock-Bailey area.

Firefighters responded to a 7:47 a.m. hazardous-materials call today at 105 Dorothy St., the home of Goldman Titanium.

"This fire is going to burn for a while, but it's under control, and it's localized," Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell W. Whitfield Jr. said at the scene shortly after 9:30 a.m.

Fire officials today explained why fires involving titanium are so tricky to fight.

"You can't use water on it, basically because it reacts violently with titanium," Whitfield said.

Firefighters also were plagued by a shortage of foam needed to battle the fire, because much of the department's supply was exhausted in fighting the four-alarm fire last week at the Niagara Lubricants building in Black Rock.

"We had some foam [remaining]," Whitfield said. "We just didn't have enough."

So shortly after this morning's fire was reported, fire officials contacted their vendor, and more foam was brought to the scene.

Witnesses at the scene reported hearing several loud explosions. While there was some concern about propane tanks at a nearby building, Whitfield said he believed the explosions were caused by reactions between water and titanium.

Those concerns forced emergency workers to stop residents in a small residential area near the plant from returning to their homes at mid-morning.

There also were unconfirmed reports that two firefighters were injured and taken to the hospital.

Today's fire was believed to be at least the fifth such incident in the facility since the mid-1990s, according to fire officials.

When a fire erupted in the Fillmore District facility in April, block club leaders demanded that Goldman Titanium prove that steps are being taken to prevent future blazes.

Mary L. Taber, president of the Clinton-Bailey Community Association, said she met at length with a company executive, who promised to get back to her in 30 to 60 days to discuss steps that are being taken to prevent future fires. That was three months ago, she said.

"It ticks me off," Taber told The Buffalo News today. "[Goldman Titanium] was supposed to get back to me to explain more about how they would prevent this type of thing from happening."

Arthur Robinson Jr., president of the Seneca-Babcock Block Club, said he remains convinced that the titanium recycling plant is a menace to the community and should not be operating at its current site. Robinson said the company's offer this spring to give concerned block club presidents a tour of the plant never materialized.

"They never contacted me once," Robinson said.

Company President Gary Greenfield told The News that unlike previous fires, today's fire started outside the plant. He said the cause is still under investigation. A damage estimate has not been released.

Greenfield said numerous steps have been taken in the recent past to prevent fire hazards, but that most of the actions involved interior improvements.

"This [fire] was a shocker," Greenfield said. "We're going to have to consider a new game plan [for the exterior]."

Greenfield said he had not been in contact with block club leaders, because he wanted to complete more work rather than coming to them with a "partial" list of safety improvements.

While the cause of today's fire remains under investigation, both Robinson and Taber said they wonder whether the company had taken the preventive steps that it promised to take.

"This fire would indicate that maybe they hadn't taken any precautions," Robinson said.

The company occupies about 150,000 square feet of space in two buildings that are situated on five acres of land. It purchases titanium scrap from around the world, then recycles it and sells it to customers for various uses.

The Dorothy Street plant is south of Clinton Street, between Babcock Street and Bailey Avenue. The nearby one-block streets include Gilbert Street, Scoville Avenue, Baitz Avenue, Kirkover Street, Hobart Street and Hubbard Street.