BATAVIA, N.Y. (WKBW) — One child has died and two children are in critical condition after an apartment fire early Thursday morning in Batavia.
The fire happened at about 12:45 a.m. on Vine Street. Dispatchers say they received a call from someone in the downstairs apartment stating three children were trapped upstairs.
First responders say they saw flames coming from a second-story window. Once crews were able to get inside, they say they were able to find and rescue the three children, ages 4, 10 and 12.
"I almost threw up. That's all. I'm still not right. Like, you know, I'm still shaking," said Linda DeSantis, who lives across the street and knows the family. "Watch that — them being taken out -- was just absolutely horrific last night."
Authorities say the children were home alone at the time of the fire.
DeSantis told 7 News Senior Reporter Eileen Buckley she knows the family well and called the children's father to tell him what was happening.
"I'm like, you need to get home. You know, your house is on fire. The kids are in the hospital," DeSantis said she told the children's father.
Batavia Police later announced on Thursday that the 10-year-old victim had died from his injuries. The other two children remain at Strong Memorial Hospital.
“They took the one out that was unconscious, and I ran down to the street, and the ambulance people, like, wouldn't let me even, like, look or talk to – he was unconscious, but I’m like – they know me, you know the kids know me, and I didn't get any anything from them,” DeSantis described.
DeSantis feels very connected to the family saying they talked to them almost every day and would even get the kids off the school bus.
“The little girl – I just bought her birthday present a couple of months ago,” reflected DeSantis.
Two police officers and a firefighter were hurt on the scene but were able to keep working after treatment.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
