CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — Four people were rescued from a house fire in Cheektowaga early Friday morning.
Shortly after midnight, Cheektowaga Police responded to a call of a house fire on Preston Road, where four people were trapped in an upper apartment. A fire had started in the lower apartment and the people went onto a balcony with their dog, but they had no way to escape.
The smoke from the fire made it impossible for the stairs to be used and was too thick for officers to enter and attempt a rescue.
Instead, Officers William Cookfair, Brendan Tomasulo, Joshua Donovan, and Jeffrey Scaglione pulled a police car up next to the balcony and helped each person and the dog down onto the roof of the car and safely to the ground.
Pine Hill Fire District put out the fire with assistance from neighboring fire districts. The American Red Cross has responded to help the displaced residents.