Mom Saves Child, Husband from Mount Vernon Fire, 17 Displaced

A woman returning from work who found her Mount Vernon home engulfed in flames managed to get her sleeping husband and child out of the house safely, though the fire spread and displaced more than a dozen people, officials say.

The fire started in the basement of the family's home on Beechwood Avenue Tuesday night, authorities said. A relative told NBC 4 New York her sister had just gotten home from work when she saw the smoke. 

"She ran upstairs, her daughter and her husband were sleeping," said Godlin Miller. "She got them out of the house."

The family is all OK, she said, but they lost everything in the fire. 

Witnesses described intense flames blowing out through the roofs of the homes. 

One firefighter was overtaken by the heavy smoke and required oxygen, but was expected to be OK. 

"It's just devastating that this could happen," said witness Sidney Weston. "I feel for the families in these houses. Now they have nowhere to stay." 

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