Investigators are looking into the cause and origin of a fire that killed a woman inside her third-floor apartment in Brooklyn Thursday afternoon.
Firefighters were called to 1498 Pacific St. at about 1:20 p.m., said FDNY Deputy Chief Michael Ajello.
Initially faced with thick, heavy smoke, firefighters made their way into the third-floor bedroom where they discovered a body, said Ajello.
Neighbors said the prospects of the woman escaping the fire on her own appeared grim from the start.
"She wasn't disabled but it was hard for her to get around," said Monique Brown, a neighbor who has lived in the area for 28 years.
"I saw real thick smoke, I saw the firemen throwing out two mattresses," said Brown. "One was really charred, one was still burning."
Officials did not immediately identify the victim, but Brown referred to the woman as "Miss Johnson," a 45-year resident in the building.
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"She stayed to herself, didn't really mingle," said Brown.
"They were telling us it was really bad up there," she said. "It's just really sad."
It took about 25 minutes for the six to eight fire companies that responded to get the fire under control.
