Remembering the day the Buffalo River burned and WNY s first environmental activist
John Zach shares in his new book the story of Stanley P. Spisiak, who first brought Buffalo s environmental concerns to President Lyndon Johnson. Author: Peter Gallivan Updated: 7:06 AM EST January 27, 2021
BUFFALO, N.Y. Buffalo was a different city before Stan Spisiak, the area s first conservationist. Pollution used to be so bad that the Buffalo River burst into flames on the cold winter day of January 24, 1968. When first firefighters got here, right under the bridge, and everyone thought the bridge was on fire but it wasn t the bridge. It was the water that was burning, said radio newsman-turned-author John Zach.