Father tried saving toddler who died in fire, neighbor says.

As flames burned through his daughter’s room, the father of a 2-year-old killed in a fire early Friday ran outside in attempt to break through her window, a neighbor said.

“We heard the flames were so bad from the door he couldn’t get (in her room),” Nancy Titchenor said Friday afternoon. “He got burnt pretty bad.”

Wichita Fire Chief Tammy Snow confirmed the father was outside when crews arrived. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition.

Titchenor said the father and daughter, 2, have lived in the house for less than a year, but she babysat the girl on a few occasions and got used to watching her grow.

“She’s a sweet little girl,” she said. “Her dad was real nice. He always had her outside playing. She was always cleaned up, dressed nicely.”

As Titchenor sat on her porch next door to 1805 North Lorraine on Friday afternoon, she looked over at the house and shook her head.

“It’s just sad,” she said. “He’s probably going to blame himself and there’s nothing else he could’ve done.”

The Wichita Fire Department arrived at the home at around 5 a.m. Snow said they were originally sent to an address to 1800 block of North Chautauqua, but smelled smoke in the area and found the burning house around the block. North Lorraine is near 17th and Hillside.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Flames were contained to one room and smoke filled the house, Snow said.

“When crews arrived the actual smoke alarm was going off,” she said.

Fire investigators had left the house by noon Friday. Yellow fire tape was still around the house and char marks could be seen outside a window on the side of the house.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Father tried saving toddler who died in fire, neighbor says.."