EAST HILLS (KDKA) – An early morning fire in the East Hills has claimed the life of one woman.

According to officials at the scene, the fire broke out shortly after midnight in the 700-block of Singer Place.

The victim has been identified as 83-year-old Dorothy Lyons.

“They observed smoke on the second floor of the structure when they turned onto Singer Place. They then called for the additional alarm, for a full first alarm response. They began to attack the fire. Unfortunately, there was a victim located to the rear of the structure, who was unable to make it out,” Pittsburgh Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Cox said.

Lyons was a mother figure to the neighborhood. One neighbor said that when Lyons would walk her dog, every child in the neighborhood would join her.

Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the row house in which it started.

The cause of the fire is unknown and the investigation is still ongoing.

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