1 dead in apartment fire in Cheltenham Township, Pa.

CHELTENHAM TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- One person is dead after fire ripped through an apartment building in Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County.

The 2-alarm blaze broke out at 4:30 a.m. Monday on South John Russell Circle at the Lynnewood Gardens apartment complex.

First responders found an intense choking fire that appeared well underway in the first and second floor apartments.

The first floor apartment was unoccupied, however, upstairs firefighters made the grim discovery.

The victim has been identified by family members as 34-year-old Rakeisha Harrison.

The longtime certified nursing assistant was described by her loved ones as kindhearted, loving, and a true jewel.

Fire investigators and detectives remained on the scene for hours.

Officials are not yet saying what sparked the fire or even where it might have started.

"It's under investigation right now by the state, the county and fire marshal," Chief John Joseph Mulligan of the Lamont Fire Company said.

Oddly, the first 911 calls of heavy smoke in the area apparently came from residents downwind of the two apartments.

Crews responding to the scene had to alert those who lived next door in adjoining apartments by knocking on their doors.