Raging fire kills man in wheelchair

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) - A man in a wheelchair died as flames tore through his home. His daughter tried to rescue him, but she barely escaped with her own life.

59-year-old Larry Brown, a man confined to a wheelchair, was trapped inside an inferno at Wyoming and Fernhill Tuesday night.

Antonio Hunley said, "When my girl woke up, she heard a big boom and that's what woke her up. She went into the room and she said the flames just jumped into her face."

Antonio Hunley's fiancee tried to save her father. Instead, she had to escape through a window to save her own life.

Iman Rasheed said, "The house looked like it was melting, like it was a marshmallow."

Tuesday night's devastation is painfully obvious in the daylight. There was no chance to save Mr. Brown.

Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield said, "We had extremely heavy conditions. The fire building was pretty much completely involved."

Jabril Rashed said, "We came out and it's like smoke. The next thing you know, boom! You could hear the windows in the house busting and like the whole porch, it just caught on fire. It was just blazing out."

The fierce fire spread to the home next door. Both houses are total losses and will have to be demolished. Larry Brown, his wife, daughter, her fiancee and her three children lived in this home. Only Brown and his daughter were home when the fire started.

Hunley explained, "We are just going to try to move on. Make the best of everything, whatever."

Firefighters say Brown was found in a bedroom in the back of the house. Neighbors tell News 4 that until his recent health problems, the longtime Buffalo resident always would help others in the community.

Denise Austin said, "It's a sad situation and they're going to need a lot of help, the family is. Not only that, the family next door. It messed up their house. Totally unlivable."

If you'd like to help the Hook/Davis and Brown families, they're looking for donations of furniture, beds, bedding, kitchen items, personal care products, gently used clothing in boxes, or cash. You can make those donations at the Delavan Grider Community Center at 877 East Delavan Avenue. You can call 896-7021 to reach the center.