SHERMAN, N.Y. -- Roofers who spotted smoke pouring from a nearby house helped save a couple trapped during a fire Tuesday morning, Chautauqua County sheriff's officials reported.
James Sittnick, 63, and his wife, Norma, 58, of 148 E. Main St., were in a second-floor bedroom of their house at about 7:30 a.m. when roofers Dan, Ray and David Miller and John Chapman, as well as neighbor Jeff Ireland, saw that the structure was on fire, sheriff's officials said.
The roofers raced from a neighboring house with their ladders and propped them up to the second floor while Ireland reached the Sittnicks in the bedroom.
Together, they worked to rescue the couple before firefighters and deputies arrived.
The Sittnicks were taken by ambulance to Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pa., then transferred to a Pittsburgh-area hospital for more extensive treatment. Their conditions were unavailable late Tuesday.
An initial fire investigation showed the fire started in a rear entry room to the house.
Sheriff's officials said the cause of the fire appears accidental but will remain under investigation until the Sittnicks can be interviewed.
There were no working smoke detectors in the residence, deputies said.
Sherman firefighters were assisted by crews from the Findley Lake, Clymer, Mayville, Chautauqua, Ashville and Bemus Point fire departments.
Copyright 2012 - The Buffalo News, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
