A Buffalo mother who tried to rescue her young son in an overnight fire has died. Firefighters rescued the two people from a burning two-family home at 174 Timon Street early Friday.
"They were located in the back bedroom of the house upon arrival. [There were] very heavy fire conditions on the first floor of the house," said Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield.
Whitfield says firefighters were able to extract and rescue 23-year-old woman and three-year-old boy.
The woman was taken to the Erie County Medical Center where she later died. The boy is at Women and Children's Hospital in Buffalo in critical condition Both suffered serious burns, smoke inhalation and other injures.
According to reports, the mother went back in to try and save the child.
A father, identified as the woman's finance, and two year old escaped the burning home on their own.
The fire spread to two nearby houses on Timon Street leaving extensive damage. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, but Commissioner Whitfield say there is no indication it was suspicious.
Whitfield noted firefighters dealt with a "very difficult situation."
"Men and women of the Buffalo Fire Department did a great job pushing in their against all odds and getting them out of the building," said Whitfield.
Buffalo firefighters were called to another two-alarm blaze just hours later at 443 Forest Avenue on the West Side.
Thirty people were living in a boarding house. No one was hurt and the Red Cross is assisting the displaced residents. The cause of that fire is also under investigation.