Lackawanna looks back 10 years after historic fire at former Bethlehem Steel site

Ten years ago, thick black smoke poured into the sky over Lackawanna when a massive fire ripped through the Steelworks Industrial Park off Route 5 the site of the former Bethlehem Steel facility.

The fire started November 9th, with hundreds of firefighters assisting from nearby communities.

"I came outside and you could see all the smoke," Michael Murray said.

Murray has lived just around the corner on Pine Street for 48 years. I found the Vietnam veteran placing flags outside his home when he reflected on that day. He remembers telling his daughter they had to leave.

"She was going to school, I believe. I said, 'Get dressed and get out of here.' Well, it's too early. No, get out of here. We don't know what's over there... I packed the animals up and headed over to my son's house," said Murray.

Great Lakes Industrial Development owned the building. A tenant Industrial Materials Recycling operated a plastics recycling center. The building also housed other businesses, including a storage facility, with a lot of materials that burned for 11 days.

When I asked Murray what the worst part was for him, he pointed to the uncertainty.

"Anticipation of what might be over there. You know, you had no idea. You know, they thought there was a lot of recreational vehicles and boats, plastic-wrapped. But other than that, I had no idea what was in there," Murray said.

Murray told me he was only out of his home for three days, but 300 other families had to be evacuated for even longer.

Erie County lawmaker Jeanne Vinal is a Buffalo attorney who represented 87 families in a class action lawsuit and won against the owner and tenant.

"A roof that was a class action lawsuit and won not maintained, so had water coming through... It was using electrical bulbs that were these big, huge bulbs that were not geared towards moisture or water," Vinal said. "The main reason was they didn't have the sprinkler system or fire alarm to give adequate notice to the fire to the fire authorities to come and try to put it out."

Although the cause is "undetermined," court records indicate a hot light bulb fell onto a stack of cardboard, setting off the historic fire.

Vinal tells me it was a lesson learned for the community.

"Whether we're the building inspector, the property owner, the tenant. You know that we have to do a better job taking care of each other, and I think that highlighted that for me," Vinal said.

WATCH: Lackawanna looks back 10 years after historic fire at former Bethlehem Steel site

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.