Flames rip through an Eastern Kentucky home killing a mother and her son.

Fire officials say it looked like 44 year old Carolyn Short was trying to help her son, 14 year old Jesse Napier get out of a window when they were both overcome with smoke. We spoke with Short's other son who jumped out of a window to escape the flames.

18 year old Jackson Napier escaped from a window and ran to a neighbor's house to call for help and though fire crews responded very quickly, it was not quick enough.

"I kept hoping mom and Jesse would be alright," said Jackson Napier.

It was around two in the morning when Napier says he woke up to the fire.

"I heard mom screaming, so I got up and I was going to see what was wrong and when I got to the door, I could hear the fire," Jackson said. "Without thinking, I opened up the door and a huge wall of smoke just completely engulfs me and I can't breathe".

Napier called 911 from a neighbor's home, and says fire crews arrived in minutes. Fire officials believe Carolyn and Jesse were trying to make it out of a bedroom window, but officials believe the mother and son died of smoke inhalation before they were able to escape.

"It's terrible when something like this happens, but when it happens so close, it's just even more of a shock," said Bill Strong, neighbor.

"He shouldn't have died, far too young. He was too good a kid for something like that to happen to him," Jackson said.

Napier and his friends were able to salvage a few pictures and other items from inside the house.

"I hope they're up in Heaven, looking down," Napier said.

Napier says he is now staying with his father. Napier says he's found great support from his friends. He says they have started a fund for him at a local bank and he says they have already bought him a tux for his prom.