A teenage girl has died and her younger brother is fighting for his life after a massive house fire tore through a Westchester County home in the middle of the night.
The deadly blaze broke out around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday at a home in Cortlandt Manor, New York, according to local reports.
The teens’ mother managed to escape the burning house, but she frantically told firefighters that her two children were still trapped upstairs in their second-floor bedrooms as flames poured from the doors and windows.
Firefighters rushed into action as the home was swallowed by smoke and fire.
Crews threw up ground ladders, broke through windows, and pulled the two teens from the burning home while battling the intense flames.
The victims were identified in reports as a 17-year-old girl and her 15-year-old brother.
Mohegan Lake Fire Chief Thomas Eade said crews had to use a rescue strategy known as “vent-enter-isolate-search” because they could not get enough access through the usual entry points.
“Crews had to get these patients out of the windows above grade,” Eade told News 12.
He said firefighters were working from multiple windows while others tried to attack the flames and get water on the fire once the teens were removed.
Both teenagers were in extremely serious condition when they were pulled from the home.
Eade said they had suffered severe burns over about 50% of their bodies and were in cardiac arrest.
Medics performed CPR at the scene and were able to restore their pulses.
The 17-year-old girl was rushed to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where she later died, according to Lohud.
Her 15-year-old brother was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital, where doctors were working to stabilize him Wednesday morning.
Two other people, believed to be the teens’ mother and another sibling, escaped the home before firefighters arrived. They were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
One firefighter was also hospitalized and treated for exhaustion.
The fire grew into a three-alarm emergency, bringing about 45 firefighters to the scene.
“The tragedy begins here in Lake Mohegan and we feel horrible for the family,” Eade told Lohud. “Our thoughts and prayers are with them throughout the morning. It’s been a tough morning.”
The fire was later ruled accidental. Officials said it was caused by an electrical issue involving a power strip.
What began as a quiet night inside the family’s Sherwood Road home became a devastating tragedy within minutes, leaving one teenager dead, her brother critically hurt, and a family shattered.
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