House sitter dies in blaze

WIVB.com - A man was killed in a house fire Sunday night, while house sitting for a man who has been sick in the hospital. Flames sparked on Sand Pit Road in the Town of Alexander, in Genesee County, late Sunday night.

Neighbor Gary Whitmore said, “I tried to put the fire out and the sheriff or police showed up and I told them there was someone in there and when the fire trucks got there, they went in after him.”

Genesee County Fire Coordinator Tim Yaeger said, “There's only one way in and one way out of the home, knocked down the fire and went in and located one victim about 15 feet inside the front door, and they were able to bring the victim out to EMS.  The victim was transported to UMMC, and apparently he passed away.”

The victim has been identified by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Department as 47-year-old Scott Cramer. According to neighbors, Cramer was house sitting for the owner of the house who is in the hospital. A firefighter was one of the first to see the fire.

Yaeger said, “Actually there was a firefighter who was driving by, that actually called 911, he stopped at the house, it was too heavy fire for him to make entry, so responded to the station to get the fire apparatus here as soon as possible.”

Fire officials say the initial cause of the fire appears to be from electrical problems. Firefighters from Alexander, Attica, Bethany, Darien and the Town of Batavia all helped with the fire.