(AP) – A fire that broke out in a Kansas City, Kan., apartment house has killed a 3-year-old boy and left his mother badly burned.

The Kansas City Star reported that heavy fire and smoke was pouring from the front of the apartment when firefighters arrived Saturday morning.

Deputy Fire Chief Duke Craig says the boy was found dead inside the building.

His mother was rushed to a hospital. She was burned while trying to save her three children. She was able to get two of them out of the one-story house, which had been converted into three apartments. Twelve people lived in the apartment house.

The name of the boy wasn’t immediately released. The Star reported that the cause of the blaze is under investigation.