Updates story posted at 10:07 a.m.
SOUTHWICK - The mother of a baby boy, trapped inside their burning home late Christmas Eve, ran outside, broke a window and scrambled in to rescue her son, firefighters said.
"They had to run outside and break a window to get in and grab the baby and get out again," said Fire Chief Richard Anderson. "Yeah, it was close."
12-25-14 -- Southwick -- A fast-moving fire reported late Christmas Eve destroyed this multi-family home at 6 Two States Ave. Fire Lt. Paul Johnson pours water on lingering hot spots.
The blaze at the multi-family home at 6 Two States Ave. was reported about five minutes before midnight and by the time firefighters got there a short time later it was fully involved.
Anderson said mother and father and baby are expected to be okay. The mother suffered lacerations to her legs and all three suffered smoke inhalation
Initially, all three family members were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. The baby was taken to Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston, however, to be further checked out.
The parents are there now with their son, Anderson said, adding that state Trooper Michael Mazza, who is attached to the state Fire Marshal's office, has has already talked with the parents.
Anderson said at least two other occupants safely escaped the fire and several others may not have been home when it broke out.
Although firefighters initially reported the building was a two-family home, Anderson said there may have been three separate living quarters.
"We are still sifting through that information," he said.
The mother and father had left their baby in their basement apartment and were upstairs in another apartment when the fire broke out, Anderson said. They ran outside to rescue the baby because there was no internal access from one apartment to another.
The fire remains under investigation. Investigators believe it started in the rear of the structure, which is now "a pile of rubble," Anderson said. Capt. Michael Kennedy, still at the scene shortly after sunrise, said the roof collapsed into the basement an hour or so after their arrival.
"It contained the heat inside, which made it difficult to put out," Kennedy said. "It was stubborn."
The property sits near a cluster of other homes on the western shore of Congamond Lakes' Middle Pond.
The investigation is going to take some time. Anderson, speaking, at about 11:30 a.m., said the blaze is not completely out and there is the potential for further collapse.
An excavator will be brought to the scene to begin examining the fire scene "layer by layer," Anderson said.