Neighbors rescue boy from fire that killed dad
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Two neighbors are being credited with saving the life of a 5-year-old boy whose father was killed in a fire at their Buffalo apartment.
Officials say the fire broke out around 6 p.m. Thursday in a second-story apartment on Buffalo’s east side.
Fire officials say Lewis Varner Jr. and his son Dwayne rescued the boy from the blaze that killed 56-year-old Tony Mills.
Lewis Varner tells local media that he saw the boy standing in a second-floor window and told him to jump so Varner could catch him. But the boy said he was afraid, so the Verners got a ladder from their home and rescued the boy.
Firefighters pulled Mills out of the burning home, but he was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The fire’s cause is under investigation.