Buffalo police are investigating how a firefighter was injured while training over the weekend. And the leader of the firefighter’s union is questioning whether someone took a shot at one of his men.
The rookie firefighter from Buffalo’s Ladder 13 was training Saturday evening on the roof of a house in the Riverside area when he felt a sharp pain in his left side.
Thinking nothing of it, he ignored it, and continued his work, according to Thomas Barrett, president of the Buffalo Professional Firefighters Union.
But when he returned to quarters, he saw there was a hole in his turnout gear. There was also what looked like a burn mark, and there was a mark on his left side, Barrett said.
He was taken to ECMC for an evaluation.
Barrett said whatever made the mark on his side, had to go through the firefighter’s coat, a heavy sweatshirt and a T-shirt.
If it was a bullet that made the mark, the firefighter could have been saved by his coat, which is lined with a Kevlar shell and a thick thermal barrier. But the thought of someone taking shots at one of his guys has Barrett on edge.
“I’d hate to think that somebody was taking a shot at one of our firefighters. The world has gotten kind of crazy lately,” Barrett said. “I would hate to speculate that was the case, but I don’t really what it could be or what it was; the hospital and everything, nobody could determine anything.”