3 Children Rescued From Fire And Hospitalized Were Home Alone, Police Say

Authorities say three children rescued from an apartment fire in western New York in the early hours Thursday were home alone at the time.

The City of Batavia Police Department said officers responded along with firefighters to a report of a structure fire on Vine Street in Batavia, about 50 miles east of Niagara Falls, at around 12:45 a.m. Thursday. The downstairs tenant of the building called 911 to report a fire in the upstairs apartment, and said there were three children trapped inside.

Responding officers arrived to find flames coming from a second-story window. They reached the second floor and tried to make entry to the apartment but were “pushed back by smoke and heat.”

The City of Batavia Fire Department responded along with the Town of Batavia Fire Department, the LeRoy Fire Department, and Mercy EMS. City firefighters made entry into the apartment and rescued three children, siblings ages 4, 10 and 12.

All three children were transported first to United Memorial Medical Center then to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Police did not immediately provide details about the children’s conditions.

Two City of Batavia police officers and one City of Batavia firefighter sustained minor injuries, were treated, and “resumed working,” police said.

According to police, the children were the only people inside the apartment at the time of the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.