photo by: Conrad Swanson

Lawrence firefighters respond to a house fire in the 300 block of Johnson Avenue, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016.

A Lawrence woman was flown to an area hospital after being seriously injured in a house fire Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters responded to 331 Johnson Ave. around 2:45 p.m. after a fire was reported in the home, where a woman was trapped in the basement, said Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Division Chief Eve Tolefree.

The home is near the intersection of 19th Street and Barker Avenue.

Arriving on scene, firefighters saw smoke coming from the basement and other areas of the house, Tolefree said, adding that firefighters had difficulty gaining entry to the home.

A woman was taken out of the home on a stretcher. She was moving as first responders loaded her into an ambulance, but it was not clear whether she was fully conscious or alert.

Tolefree said the woman, who had suffered smoke inhalation, was then flown to an area hospital. At the time of the flight, she was in critical but stable condition, Tolefree said.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear, Tolefree said. Nor was the place of origin. She could not say how badly the home was damaged, pending an investigation.

Additional information was not immediately available.

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