CLEVELAND — A woman was killed after a house fire on Cleveland’s west side early Tuesday morning.
Cleveland Division of Fire Public Information Officer Lieutenant Mike Norman said the fire started around 2:06 a.m. at a home on West 148th Street. Norman said when firefighters arrived on scene, a ranch-style home was engulfed in flames and a 62-year-old woman was found dead on the front porch.
“We've had a fatality out here on West 148th this morning,” Norman said. “Just a tragic situation out here this morning."
Officials say three people lived in the home: the 62-year-old victim, her son, and his girlfriend, who had been staying in the basement to help care for the woman. The son was not home at the time of the fire. Firefighters say it was the girlfriend who woke up to smoke and tried to rescue her boyfriend’s mother.
The entire ceiling of the first floor of the home was destroyed.
Firefighters said a cat was found alive in the basement ceiling.
It remains unclear whether smoke alarms were present and functioning at the time. Norman said arson is not suspected, but the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
