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Woman Found Dead In Brookline Mobile Home Fire

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A woman was killed when her mobile home went up in flames in the city's Brookline neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon.

According to emergency officials, the fire broke out around 3:40 p.m. at a mobile home on Whited Street, which intersects with Saw Mill Run Boulevard.

Neighbors say they heard a loud boom, and when they looked out of their windows saw the trailer had erupted in fire.

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(Source: Lucas DeCaria/Facebook)

Firefighters arrived on the scene quickly to find the home engulfed in heavy smoke and flames. The people who live there say they use oil tanks for heat.

"This is my biggest fear come true," said neighbor Erin Conn. "I live in fear someone will be careless with a cigarette or whatever, oxygen, and we'll all go up, especially if the oil tanks would have caught fire, this whole trailer park would have been wiped out."

Once they got inside, crews found the woman unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her name has not yet been released, but she is believed to be in her 60s. Neighbors say she was home-bound and was dealing with health issues for which she need oxygen.

Officials say her son pulled up to the scene as the fire was overtaking the home. He lives in the home with her and was her caretaker.

"He was screaming. He was freaking out, 'My mom's in there, my mom's in there,'" said Conn.

"I spoke to her son and offered him my condolences, and he said he was just arriving at the time when the fire was breaking out," said Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones. "He witnessed the fire. I'm not sure if he's the one who called it in, or if it was just a time thing when he was pulling in when he noticed the fire along with the neighbors."

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(Photo Credit: KDKA)

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

A neighbor's home was also heavily damaged.

Neighbors say the victim's son didn't have much and did not have insurance. Meanwhile, the Red Cross is helping three people who live along the street.

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