A Kansas City, North, woman died this afternoon when fire swept through her one-story home.
The woman, whose name and age have not been released, was discovered in a bedroom inside the house at 618 N.E. 37th Street.
Neighbors called the fire department just before 2:30 p.m. when they saw smoke coming from the structure, said Battalion Chief Germane Friends of the Kansas City Fire Department.
Friends said neighbors initially could not tell whether they were seeing heavy fog or smoke near the house. Thick smoke and flames were visible when firefighters arrived and it looked as if the fire had been burning for some time, Friends said. Most of the damage appeared to be in the bedroom where the woman was discovered.
Firefighters initially had trouble locating a fire hydrant near the home, Friends said. The house is a small one-story structure in a neighborhood near North Holmes Street. No one else was inside the home at the time the fire was reported. Friends said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
This was the city's first fire fatality of the year, Friends said. In 2004, there were nine fire fatalities in Kansas City.
