--
Nov. 11--A West Seneca mother and her 12-year-old son who had Down Syndrome died this morning in a fast-moving fire that gutted their Convington Drive home.
The woman's two older children survived after a neighbor coaxed them to jump from a second-story window.
Authorities have not released the names of the victims.
Scott Boll, 40, a landscaper who lives across the street from the fire -- which was at 254 Covington -- was backing up his pickup truck when he heard screams shortly before 8 a.m.
He ran across the street and saw a young woman hanging out a second-story window and her teenage brother hanging out a side window, near the driveway. Heavy, black smoke poured from the windows.
Boll dialed 911 from his cell phone and handed it over to another neighbor as he raced to help.
After seeing that the boy, who was about 15, could jump down from the window to a roof safely, he turned his attention to the young woman. He screamed at her over and over to jump. The woman yelled something about her cat, and Boll told her to throw it down. He then persuaded her to jump and helped break her fall.
The brother and sister were in a state of panic as they begged for help for their mother and younger brother, Boll said.
A Buffalo police officer arrived, and he and Boll began breaking open windows and a door to try to help the mother and son still inside.
"Anyone in there?" they screamed but heard no response.
Firefighters "had a very difficult time battling their way into the fire," West Seneca assistant fire chief Daniel Denz said.
All six of the town's fire companies were called to put out the fire. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries trying to battle the blaze.
The mother and son were found on the second floor of the house. Initial reports indicated their bodies were in different bedrooms.
The cause of the fire was under investigation but Denz said there was "nothing suspicious at this time."
[email protected]
