3 children killed in Buffalo fire; 3 more children, grandmother injured – WHIO TV 7 and WHIO Radio

BUFFALO, NY — Three children and three others, including an infant, were killed in a fire in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday morning, authorities said.

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The children’s 63-year-old grandmother was seriously injured and taken to the burns unit at Erie County Medical Center, according to The Buffalo News. All of the children were siblings, according to the newspaper.

During a news conference, Buffalo Fire Department Commissioner William Renaldo said three girls, ages 7, 8 and 10, were killed in the blaze. A boy and a girl, both aged 3 to 10, were in critical condition at Oishei Children’s Hospital. The baby, also a girl, was taken to the same hospital in stable condition.

A fire that was reported at 7:30 a.m. and escalated to a two alarm fire cost December 31, 2022 at 207 Dartmouth Ave. life in Buffalo three children. Three https://t.co/pDkVoUSynr

— The Buffalo News (@TheBuffaloNews) December 31, 2022

Firefighters responded to a blaze with two alerts just before 7:30 a.m., WGRZ-TV reported. Renaldo said the first crews arrived at the 1 1/2 story house in three minutes. According to the TV station, crews encountered heavy smoke and fire inside the house.

The children’s grandmother was able to rescue the baby from the home, the News reported. An adult woman also fled the home, and firefighters got the other children out of the home.

The grandmother and her husband are the children’s primary guardians, WIVB-TV reported. The grandfather, who has cancer, was not home at the time of the fire, a neighbor told the News.

All of the children suffered cardiac arrest, according to the newspaper.

The cause of the fire is determined according to WGRZ. The fire brigade assumes that the fire broke out on the first floor in the dining room of the house.

Damage to the home is estimated at about $150,000, WIVB reported. There were working smoke detectors in the apartment.

“It’s been a very challenging year, not just for the fire department, but for the city as a whole,” Renaldo told reporters. “We’ve had a number of fatalities, spectacular fires. Obviously we had shooting at Tops on May 14th and we are also coming from the end of a global pandemic.”