By Ben Dobbin
The Associated Press

BYRON, N.Y. — A fire in a small apartment complex in rural upstate New York early Monday killed a mother, her teenage son, and two daughters recently returned from college for the summer break.

The bodies were recovered during an hours-long search in the smoking rubble of the building in farm country 25 miles west of Rochester.

Neighbors said the boy was a 17-year-old junior at Byron-Bergen High School and the daughters attended colleges in New York City and Binghamton and returned home just last week. Their identities were not released, and the cause of the blaze wasn't immediately known.

Firefighters were called to the cluster of duplex apartments at around 4:30 a.m. Monday and took about two hours to bring the fire under control, said Byron Fire Chief John Durand said. The blaze spread quickly to the adjoining apartments and at least 10 neighbors escaped before fire crews even arrived, Durand said.

"It had a big head start on us," Durand said. "The flames were coming out the lower windows, both front and rear about 7 or 8 feet and in the air about 15 to 20 feet."

The fire apparently originated in the apartment where the family lived, and "it's either got to be electrical or a furnace or hot water heater or something on that order," Durand said.