This home at 211 Mill St. was fully engulfed when Lockport firefighters arrived on scene. (PHOTOS BY HEATHER N. GRIMMER / ENP PHOTOGRAPHER)

ENP STAFF REPORTS
news@eastniagarapost.com

---

Lockport firefighters battle a blaze at 211 Mill St.

There were no injuries but plenty of damage in a house fire at 211 Mill Street this afternoon.

The Lockport Fire Department responded to the fire around 4:40 p.m. and quickly got the blaze under control.

"It was fully engulfed when we arrived," said Asst. Chief Michael Seeloff. "We had our work cut out for us."

The department had requested "as much manpower as possible" for the blaze and had three squadrons at the ready to fight the fire, which destroyed the back part of the house and may have damaged it beyond repair.

The home was occupied by 32-year-old Leslie Huntingon, Jessica Lewis, and three children, none of whom were home when the blaze started.

Lewis said she had been doing laundy when she left the home earlier in the day. A neighbor said they heard a loud "pop" just before the fire started and it was believed by some the dryer may have been the culprit, although an official investigation into the cause is underway, Seeloff said.

Huntington and Lewis were in the process of moving and, as such, most of the furniture was already removed from the home, but personal possessions and clothes were believed to have been all destroyed by the blaze.

Huntington arrived at the scene while LFD was fighting the fire and attempted to go into the still-smoldering house to retrieve his possessions. He had to be refrained from doing so by members of the fire department and Lockport Police Department.

A juvenile watches from the back yard as Lockport Fire Department fights a blaze this afternoon at 211 Mill St.

---

Get the daily East Niagara Post email update.
Send an email to news@eastniagarapost.com with "email update" in the subject line.