BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Firefighters made a daring rescue in a burning South Buffalo home Friday morning. The fire is out, but investigators are trying to determine what sparked the blaze.
Around 7 a.m. Friday, a fire broke out at 54 Remoleno Street in South Buffalo. A woman who lives in the home said even though her home is damaged, she is just grateful for the firefighters who saved her roommate.
Audio: 1 Alarm, 54 Romeleno St
courtesy Erie County Fire Wire
Amelia Luciano said, “I smelled smoke and my room was filled. I went in the kitchen and it was cloudy, I couldn’t see.”
Luciano and two others in the home were able to escape. But her roommate couldn’t.
Luciano explained, “It was so scary. The scariest experience I think I’ve ever been in. And when my roommate didn’t wake up it freaked us out. We banged on the door. Went in there shook him and he just didn’t wake up.”
Afterwards two Buffalo firefighters worked together to pull the 40-year-old from the home.
Buffalo Fire Battalion Chief Peter Kertzie says the man was taken to a nearby hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
As for the home, Kertzie says the most damage is in the kitchen on the second floor of the two apartment home. He says here’s heavy charring and smoke damage that created about $35,000 in damage.
Fire officials believe the blaze likely started in the stove.
Luciano said, “It was so weird because no one was cooking and the broiler just caught on fire.”
Kertzie said, “Our investigator looked at the stove, it’s pretty heavy damage to the stove, but we don’t know the exact cause.”
Luciano says the next step is for her to find a new place to move too. In the interim, Luciano says she will likely stay with family.
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