Niagara Lubricant Co. Rebuilds with Community Aid

For the locals of Buffalo, New York, 1923 saw the establishment of the Niagara Lubricant Co. at 164 Chandler Street. It stood in the Black Rock neighborhood of Buffalo for 88 years, withstanding the region’s brutally snow-filled winters, dramatic unemployment during The Great Depression, and the downsizing of the area’s steel mills.

By July 2011, the family-owned Niagara Lubricant factory kept a lean crew, employing between 30 to 40 people at a time. Still, the company had managed to serve not just Western New York, but areas around the world too. They had relationships with partners and suppliers that had lasted decades.

That’s when the fire started.

Early on the morning of July 13, 2011, black clouds billowed from the structure. The company’s vats of materials soon contributed to loud booms that shook the immediate area.

“There were several explosions inside. There were vats of oil, grease, and other explosive materials. There were propane tanks in there and we backed out immediately and were fighting the fire defensively, from the exterior,” said Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.

Over 100 firefighters, volunteers included, responded from multiple stations. Even the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station firefighters joined the effort with a foam trailer that is used to douse aircraft fires or blazes otherwise involving petroleum. About 1,000 gallons of foam were used that day. The nearest Buffalo residents were warned to close their doors, windows, and avoid breathing the smoke.

Luckily, there were no employee injuries throughout the 40,000 square foot building. And only one firefighter was taken to the hospital with a knee injury. No cause for the fire was ever identified. But the building collapsed and was predicted to smolder for days. Niagara Lubricant had nowhere to operate their business.

Doug Harbison, a supplier to Niagara Lubricant said, “It hurts my stomach, I can’t believe it. It’s worse than heartbreaking, it’s devastating. What are they going to do now?”

Leon Smith III, chairman of Niagara Lubricant, was horribly upset by the disaster. The damage from the fire was estimated at $8 million dollars. But just when all seemed lost, the community stepped up to help.

Niagara Lubricant moved into spaces provided by their suppliers and competitors. They were able to stay in business, but it wasn’t a good fit.

“The space was not safe for my employees to work in, and not large enough for us to meet the demand of our customers,” said Leon Smith III, “We had insufficient space to store inventory and to take advantage of supplier discounts, this also drove up shipping costs. We spent too much time moving inventory around the facility rather than manufacturing, packaging and shipping products.

Smith found the partnership he needed with the Grow America Fund and the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). Although they first considered rebuilding on the original site, they eventually decided that it wouldn’t fit their needs either.

Thankfully, they received a $172,000 tax savings earmark and other help from the Erie County IDA, as well as funds from Grow America Fund.

Three years after the fire, Smith and Niagara Lubricant opened the doors to a new, 65,000-square-foot facility that is healthy for the business and its employees. The new plant was outfitted with state-of-the-art fire suppression systems.

“Without Grow America Fund and Erie County IDA, I wouldn’t have been able to get into the new facility,” said Smith. He noted that no employees lost jobs or paychecks because of the fire.

Although they had lost an estimated 40% of their original business, they’ve grown in other areas to compensate. Smith and his team rebuilt and kept Buffalo residents employed. Now, the company that has employed five Smith family generations can add new jobs as they grow, and offer many new products.