BUFFALO, N.Y. — Three young children were saved from a smoke-filled house Monday and now charges are pending against the mother of those children.
According to a Buffalo Police spokesperson, Chelsea Patton, 25, was arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child. These charges come after three young children were left alone at a house in the 500 block of Goodyear Avenue.
Buffalo Fire officials say the ages of those children are 5-years-old, 3-years-old, and 2-years-old.
Investigators says an electronic device caught fire in a bathroom on the first floor of the home around 9:30 a.m. Officials tell us the device was burned so badly, it's unrecognizable.
Smoke started to spread throughout the first floor of the home.
Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo says when firefighters got to the scene, they were quickly able to put out the fire and found no one watching over the kids.
"They were really pretty lucky the smoke had not banked down to their level yet, they’re younger children so the smoke was probably three or four feet from the ceiling, but they were evaluated by an ambulance crew at the scene and they were treated and released," said Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo.
It's unclear how long the children were left alone.
"I know the mother arrived on the scene probably within 45 minutes after the incident, but prior to that I couldn’t tell you how long the children were left alone for," Renaldo said.
Officials are still investigating what type of device burned.
"There was a small electronic device on the floor of the bathroom and that’s where the fire originated from," Renaldo said.
Commissioner Renaldo says the mother was taken into custody at the scene. Buffalo Fire say they’re not sure who the children were released to, but that they are in good care.
Officials say Child and Family Services has been notified about this incident.