Victim in fire tried to call for help

CHEEKTOWAGA, NY (WIVB) - As the Ansari family home on Hyland Rd. filled with smoke, authorities believe one of the daughters used her cell phone to call for help.

"They just heard a female screaming, she didn't say anything about a fire so our dispatch sent police first, because when they heard screaming they assumed a domestic incident type thing," said Chief Jeff Glinski of the Hy-View Volunteer Fire Company.

When police arrived they smelled smoke, tracking it to a house set back from the road.

They found 60 year-old Mohammad Ansari just inside the door. They couldn't save him and they couldn't go further into the house.

Captain John Glascott, Cheektowaga Police, explained, "My police officers are not equipped with self contained breathing apparatuses. You've got to make good quality decisions before you do something like that."

When firefighters arrived, they needed extra line to reach the house. About an hour after the screaming call was made, the bodies of 22 year-old Saaiba Ansari and 25 year-old Faaiza Ansari were reported discovered in a smoke-filled rear bedroom.

"They were in the back, there was no fire damage in the back, it was all smoke," said Chief Glinski.

Mohammad Ansari was a retired engineer who was known for his jerry-rigged inventions, many in public view, including a mailbox that would close automatically.

Michelle Foss, a neighbor explained, "The mailbox is rigged, he's got it so if kids were to leave the mailbox open in the rain it would slowly shut."

Another neighbor, Larry McFarlane, tells of another invention, "T he best one, when he had the lawmower with the little cart, diving down the street, so he's saving gas. So he had his funny ways."

Clutter inside the house hampered the search for victims according to fire officials. They found a smoke detector but it was not sounding an alarm.

"When I found out they were all deceased I actually sat in the house and cried because he was a nice person," said McFarlane.