The fire apparently began downstairs. Preliminary reports indicate that two women were inside. One was cooking downstairs when the fire started. The woman upstairs came downstairs to try to put out the fire but was unable to and for some reason headed back upstairs.
The flames spread quickly. The woman who died in the fire was 33 years old. Her identity has not yet been released.
One neighbor says she tried to help the women get out.
"I was sleeping and all of the sudden I heard screaming. So, I went out to my window, cause it faces directly to the house and I saw flames. So, I ran downstairs and I asked my mother to call 911," said neighbor Jennifer Davison. "I ran out to the back and that's when I saw the sister -- she was outside. I asked her what happened and then I ran toward each of their corresponding neighbors to bang on their door."
"We all attend the same fellowship down the street," said a family friend Theresa Omelugike. "This is a sad thing that has happened in our community. I can tell you that for sure."
Friends say the two women are Nigerian and are very active in the Nigerian community at a nearby church.
The preliminary cause of the fire appears to have been started on the stove. Arson investigators are on the scene to determine the exact cause of the fire.
