photo by: Sara Shepherd

Lawrence firefighters inspect the scene of a fatal fire at 938 E. 19th St., Monday, March 26, 2018.

Update:Woman killed in fatal fire on 19th Street was lifelong Lawrence resident; fire deemed accidental

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A 28-year-old woman is dead after a fire early Monday morning at a rental house in Lawrence, authorities said.

A passerby called about 6:10 a.m. to report the fire at 938 E. 19th St., said James King, Division Chief and Fire Marshal with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical.

First responders, who encountered heavy fire when they arrived, entered the house and found the woman in a bedroom, King said.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died, King said. He said preliminary information indicated she died of smoke inhalation.

The fire largely gutted the tiny, one-story, wood-frame house and burned through a large portion of the roof, as well.

“It was well-advanced when the call was made,” King said.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Monday, King said. As of late afternoon, he said, investigators had not located any smoke detectors inside.

King said the 28-year-old tenant was the sole occupant of the house at the time of the fire. The fire department did not release her name Monday.

King said there may also have been a cat in the house but that investigators had not confirmed that as of Monday afternoon.

The woman had worked at Harper Corner Liquor, at 23rd and Harper streets, for the past couple of years, according to a fellow employee of the business who did not want his name published. He said the woman was friendly and well-liked by customers there.

She also was a regular at Playerz Sports Bar, 1910 Haskell Ave. Several people who knew her were at the bar Monday but said they were in shock and were not ready to talk about her.

Next-door neighbor Brett Kuhlman said he awoke to a man pounding on his door to tell him about the fire, which was large enough that he feared it could spread to Kuhlman’s house. Kuhlman said the passerby who knocked on his door told him that he lived in the area and had gone outside for his early morning cigarette when he saw flames and called 911.

Kuhlman said he did not know the woman who lived next door, except that she didn’t drive and often walked or rode a bicycle.

A call to a number listed on a “for rent” sign in the house’s front yard was not immediately returned Monday.

The house is located across the street from the city’s Chief Jim McSwain Park, which is named for a former fire chief and located adjacent to the fire department’s training facility.

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