Child dies in New Hampshire mobile home fire

LONDONDERRY, N.H. (WHDH) -- Fire officials say a child has died in a fire in a mobile home in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Jim Herman, with a shovel in hand, broke a back window of the mobile home trying to save a child inside -- but the smoke was too black and the fire was too intense.

“I was at the crib and I pulled the sheets towards me and I was waiting for some resistance on the sheets and there was none and I don't' know where the kid was. But I don't think he was in the crib and I tried like hell,” said Herman.

Firefighters say food left cooking on the stove started the blaze Thursday afternoon. The mother was able to get out with an infant, but witnesses say her other son was still trapped.

“By the time we got there she got the first child out and then she was going back trying to get the second child and by then she couldn't' go through the kitchen way,” said Gino Bonanno, a witness.

Neighbors say the mother was so desperate that she tried to jump in through the broken window in search of her child.

“She tried to go through and she tried the same thing. The mother cut her arms and her stomach when she tried to go over the window,” said Bonanno.

Firefighters finally put out the blaze but could not save the child inside.

Neighbors say they're devastated by the news.

“Heart wrench especially with Christmas a few days away,” said Brenda Bayer, a witness.

The mother was taken to the hospital with cut all over her body. She has since been released and family members said she is recovering with relatives.