BODMIN, England, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- An English mother died after pushing her son out of a window of their home to escape a fire that may have been started by a firework pushed into the mail slot.
Neighbors in Bodmin, Cornwall, watched helplessly as Mary Fox shoved Raum, 17, to safety from his first-floor bedroom, the Daily Mail reported. Firefighters found her dead inside the house.
The blaze occurred on Bonfire Night, which celebrates the thwarting on Nov. 5, 1605, of a plot to blow up Parliament and King James I.
Doreen Rowe, a neighbor, called Mary Fox "a dear old soul" and a hero. She said a firework was thrown into the house of at least one other resident in the area although with less devastating results.
"With it being bonfire night there was loads of kids on the street last night armed with fireworks," Rowe said. "Police have told us one of them has put one through Mary's letterbox."
Kerry Ollerenshaw, 36, a friend of the Fox family, said Raum Fox had learning disabilities and was a target of bullies. Mary Fox, 59, also had four daughters.
Fire investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
