Woman dies after house fire in West Chester, Pennsylvania

WEST CHESTER, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A 65-year-old woman is dead after she was pulled from a burning building early Tuesday morning in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Authorities were called to the unit block of Patton Alley for a fire at an apartment building around 5:45 a.m.

West Chester Fire Chief Stephen Pelna said firefighters were able to locate the victim pretty quickly once they entered the burning structure.

"The assistant chief located the fire victim, and he actually had to seek refuge during the process because of the heat conditions and additional crews were able to come in and assist him with removing the victim," Pelna said.

Fire crews managed to get the woman out of the building. She was rushed to the hospital but later died.

The woman who died was Cook's upstairs neighbor.

"She was a very kind, very nice lady. Always said hi - she was really nice. I'm very sad to hear that," Cook said.

Cook wasn't home at the time of the fire.

"I got a call at 6 in the morning from my neighbor, saying the place is on fire and I needed to get here right away," Cook said.

"I was nervous. I was nervous for my neighbors. The neighbors upstairs, they have a young daughter, so I was just nervous for everyone's safety and numb thinking I'm going to have nowhere to live," he said. "This is my - anybody's - worst nightmare."

Cook and her neighbors were at the apartment building Tuesday morning into the afternoon gathering what was left of their belongings. Cook is one of six people in this four-unit building having to move out, according to the West Chester fire chief. Other apartments suffered severe smoke and water damage.

"It's bad in there. It's basically raining in my apartment, smoke everywhere. It's horrible but not even close to upstairs," Cook said.

Chief Pelna says a police officer and EMS worker suffered smoke inhalation on the scene and a firefighter sustained an ankle injury. All were taken to the hospital for treatment and are expected to be okay.

Authorities have not released the victim's identity in this case. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.