40 years ago: Tragedy on North Division Street

Nick Catanzaro was too young to remember that awful night in December 1983 when the Buffalo fire commissioner came to his home to tell loved ones that their father and husband, Firefighter Michael Catanzaro, had died in a huge propane explosion. Nick was only 9 months old. But he and his brothers still talk about the days when their

Chris Catanzaro still remembers that cold, frosty night 25 years ago, the night Buffalo’s fire commissioner knocked on his door and changed his life forever. Even now, he can see his mother collapsing at the doorway and an older brother, his face in his hands, weeping uncontrollably. Chris was only 7 at the time but the memories of that

Twenty years have passed since a propane tank explosion leveled a North Division Street neighborhood in Buffalo, killing seven people, including five Buffalo firefighters. While much has been written and remembered about those five who rushed to the scene, not much has been said about the two civilians who died — or about survivors who also lost homes. “It’s

Friday was the 19th anniversary of the most tragic event in the history of the Buffalo Fire Department — the propane explosion at a North Division Street warehouse that killed five firefighters and injured dozens of others. Dec. 27, 1983, which has become known as “the darkest day” for the department, was commemorated with the unveiling and dedication of

The warped and twisted steel I-beams lying in front of the Buffalo Fire Department’s memorial to fallen city firefighters set the stage for reflection. Some ask if the beams were once part of the fallen World Trade Center towers, where 343 New York City firefighters died Sept. 11. The memorial’s designer says no, but he welcomes such musings. The

The 15th anniversary of the North Division Street propane explosion that killed five firefighters and two civilians was marked Sunday evening by the Buffalo Fire Department. A moment of silence was observed at 8:22 p.m. by five fire companies assembled at North Division and North Grosvenor streets to mark the tragedy of Dec. 27, 1983. Division Chief Don McFeely

All on-duty members of the Buffalo Fire Department observed a moment of silence Saturday night in honor of five firefighters and two civilians who were killed Dec. 27, 1983, in a massive propane explosion. Several fire crews observed their moment of silence at the explosion site on North Division Street. The observance was held at 8:23 p.m., the time

All liability claims from the Christmastime 1983 propane explosion that killed seven people — including five Buffalo firefighters — are now settled, generating $5.6 million in insurance payments, legal sources and court records indicated Thursday. The self-insured Buffalo city government paid $220,000 to help settle the 53 lawsuits generated by the Dec. 27, 1983, blast that also injured more

An attorney for the estates of three firefighters killed in the 1983 propane gas explosion said Saturday that the dismissal of a civil lawsuit against the city denies them their rights. “With this decision, they are giving less rights to a fireman than to an individual,” said attorney Robert B. Nichols, who represented the estates of firefighters Michael Austin,

An appellate court Friday dismissed a $23 million lawsuit against the City of Buffalo filed by families of firefighters killed and injured in the 1983 propone explosion at a North Division Street warehouse. City Corporation Counsel R. Peter Morrow III said he was very pleased that the city’s position had been upheld by the Appellate Division of State Supreme

City attorneys are confident they can prove that the city has “minimal or no liability” in the deaths of five firefighters who died in the propane explosion on North Division Street in 1983. Claims that a fire dispatcher was negligent in passing on information to field supervisors about the nature of the propane problem are “very tenuous” and won’t

The judge handling lawsuits seeking more than $50 million for the 1983 propane explosion in Buffalo that killed seven people said Tuesday that he expects to rule within a month on whether the city will remain a defendant in the complex case. State Supreme Court Justice Vincent E. Doyle declined to comment on the city’s claim that it is

Five years is a long time. Long enough for many who lost loved ones in the North Division Street explosion to try to rebuild their lives. Long enough for them to recapture memories of the good times, to remember the vibrancy of the seven people who died in the Dec. 27, 1983, nightmare. But not long enough for anyone

Frank Christen refers to it as the Buffalo Fire Department’s own “day of infamy.” Twenty years ago today, a propane explosion at a North Division Street warehouse claimed the lives of five Buffalo firefighters. It was the deadliest day in the history of the department, and even two decades haven’t dulled recollections of the tragic incident. “It seems like