Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical Department responded to a fire at 810 Wellington Road, Tuesday, April 25, 2017. Fire crews pulled a woman from the home but were unable to revive her, and she died at the scene.

A woman died Tuesday in an early-morning house fire in central Lawrence.

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical crews were called to a fire at 810 Wellington Road about 5:45 a.m., and initial reports indicated an elderly female resident was possibly in the house, according to a department news release.

Fire crews arrived and pulled a woman from the home but were unable to revive her, and she died at the scene, according to the department.

Neighbors called 911 and tried to reach the resident, who they said was in her 90s, but the smoke was already too thick, said Josh Reese, who lives two houses down.

Reese said his wife was walking their dogs about 5:45 a.m. when she saw smoke coming from the house and flames in the window, called 911 and ran back to get him.

“I put on some shoes and I grabbed my sledgehammer, and I ran up to her house,” Reese said. “As soon as I knocked the door in with a couple of swings, I was engulfed with smoke, and I could see the flames … through the window of the house.”

While firefighters were en route, Reese said another neighbor climbed on his shoulders and tried unsuccessfully to get through a window at the rear of the house, then they tried again to enter the front door.

“We couldn’t even see two feet in front of our faces,” he said.

The fire was deemed under control at 6:22 a.m., according to Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical. Afterward, the one-story home did not appear to have extensive exterior damage, but soot from smoke could be seen around windows and the garage doors.

Fire investigators were still on the scene late Tuesday afternoon and had not yet determined what caused the fire, Division Chief Eve Tolefree said.

Tolefree said officials could not publicly release the victim’s name until positive identification had been made, but that family had been notified.

Douglas County property records list the home’s owner as Hazel Stanley.

Several neighbors said they believed the resident was in her 90s. They said she lived alone but that relatives visited regularly and that she was often outside working in her yard.

“She was very kind, and anytime we’d go for a walk she’d be outside and we’d talk to her,” Reese said, adding that she greeted his children on their way to and from school.

“I wish it would have gone down differently, but I did the best that I could,” he said.