TOWN OF NEWBURGH, N.Y. — A two-year-old child died and a woman remains in critical condition after an early morning fire in the Meadow Hill area of Newburgh Friday. 

Neighbor Russell Crawford tried to help his long-time neighbor escape when he received a knock on his door at 4 a.m. Friday. 

"We tried frantically to get him out," said Crawford. "We pulled and pulled and pulled and he was sort of stuck in there."

Crawford said they had to break a storm door with a sledgehammer to free the man, whose wife and child were still stuck in side. He says they tried to go back in again but he couldn't see anyone, and the smoke was intense.  

"Without a mask or something like that we couldn't get in there," explained Crawford.  

Police attempted to rescue the two still inside the burning home in the Meadow Hill part of town. Officers found the woman and the boy. First responders tried to revive the boy but were unable.

The woman survived and is in critical condition in the hospital.  

Officials have not yet determined the cause of the fire.