A woman is dead after she was unable to escape a fast-moving fire that tore through her Havertown home on Friday evening.
The fire tore through the first floor of the home along the 900 block of Larchmont Avenue just before 6 p.m.
Brookline Fire Chief John Viola said the victim had mobility issues. A neighbor said the woman, identified as Roseann McLaughlin, used a wheelchair.
"There was some problem with the chair. They tried to carry her out of the house and it got caught in the door and unfortunately the fire took off from there," Viola said.
By the time police and firefighters arrived moments later, the woman had died, Viola said.
The woman's daughter and granddaughter were able to escape the home without harm, Viola said.
Local and state police are investigating the cause of the fire.
McLaughlin was the Health Services Coordinator for the Overbrook School for the Blind. A GoFundMe page was created in support of her two children.
