Fire chief calls fatal blaze accidental

SILVER CREEK, N.Y. (WIVB) - Firefighters in Chautauqua County battled a house fire and found a man dead inside. Firefighters have not confirmed it to us, but we have learned from other sources that an 18 year old didn’t make it out and was killed by the fire.

Neighbors found the house on Hanover Street engulfed in flames, just before 6 a.m. Wednesday.

“The back of the house was engulfed in flames. Came out, saw the fire trucks were already on the way here so went back inside and woke my wife up and made sure everyone was out of our house,” said a neighbor.

A firefighter said, “It was very intense. I live right up the street and I was here, you know, in just a couple of minutes. When I got here we had fire and smoke blowing out just about all of the openings.”

Rescuers and two passerbys found the parents of the family of four on the back roof. They were taken to Lakeshore Hospital. That is when firefighters learned a third person, their 18-year-old son, might still be in side.

The firefighter said, “It’s mass chaos when you first get here. You need to catch your breath and figure out what you need to do. Obviously, when we confirmed there was a subject inside that’s where we focus our attention. First time we went to get the back by the heat, some of the helmets on some of the fireman that went in were started to melt so we had to come back out, regroup. We went back inside, we’re able to find a male victim, extricate him from the residence.”

News 4 was told the 18-year-old recently graduated high school and usually stayed at a friend’s house. According to witnesses, there is a chance that the parents’ didn’t even know he was inside the home.

News 4 is told that a daughter also lives in the Hanover Street home, but was not home at the time. The fire chief said the blaze began in the back of the home and was accidental.