Fatal Berkeley fire: Before she died, neighbors tried to help

Update, 6:45 p.m. Neighbors of an older Berkeley woman who died after a fire broke out in her duplex Wednesday said they had been trying in vain to get her help.

"She's very, very alone," one longtime neighbor told The Scanner. "She has no close family, nobody in this area. She's just been going downhill for a while."

According to public records, the woman was 74 years old. Authorities have not released her name pending family notification.

One close neighbor described how he had woken up Wednesday afternoon to the smell of smoke.

When he looked outside, smoke was pouring from the woman's window.

He ran outside and called 911 while trying to get to her.

"I popped the screen off the window and raised the window open," he said. "There was a lot of smoke coming out. I couldn't get in."

While he waited for the fire department to arrive, the man moved the garbage cans away to clear a path.

"She definitely needed help," he said. "They dropped the ball on her."

Neighbors said the woman had "a lot of debris" inside her home and that she could not help collecting it.

Multiple people on the block tried to look out for her, helping with errands, taking her to the bank and the food bank.

They called the Berkeley Fire Department for medical help on multiple occasions.

Neighbors said they also contacted other authorities, including the Berkeley Housing Authority and Alameda County adult services, but calls went unanswered or fell through the cracks in other ways.

"We've all tried to get somebody out to help her," as recently as last week, one neighbor said. "I'm just angry now. In addition to being very sad."

She said neighbors had hoped authorities would inspect the woman's home and move her into a facility that offered more support — particularly because she'd been living without electricity for several months and wasn't eating regularly.

"She was very, very weak. Very, very sad," she added. "She would come over and use the phone because her phone was not working. I charged it for her a few days ago. She doesn't have service so I don't know what she was going to do with it."

The Berkeley Fire Department provided the following statement shortly after publication. It appears below in full with minor edits.

Berkeley Fire received a call at 3:53 p.m. for a possible structure fire in the 1300 block of Poe Street. The first crew arrived to find flames and smoke showing from three sides of the structure. It also came in through Dispatch that there was a possible victim inside the house.

The first engine company made forceable entry along with a second engine company and found a female body inside. The victim was taken outside of the structure and attended to by paramedics. They were declared deceased at the scene.

The fire was at a single-story duplex unit, and the other residence does not have much fire damage — mostly likely smoke damage only. That resident will be staying with a friend. There were no injuries to firefighters or residents. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Original story: A Berkeley woman was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday after a fire broke out in her duplex just south of Strawberry Creek Park.

Just before 4 p.m., the Berkeley Fire Department responded to reports of a structure fire with a resident still inside on Poe Street, a small cul-de-sac, at Bonar Street.

Firefighters responded quickly and found the woman, who was unconscious, inside.

They were able to bring her out of the burning home but then determined that she had no pulse or heartbeat.

She was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene, the Berkeley Fire Department said.

The fire resulted in significant damage to one side of the duplex, authorities said.

The resident of the other unit was displaced but told authorities she could find a place to stay on her own.

The coroner's office will be responding to the scene.

Stay tuned for updates.

Ariel Nava contributed reporting to this story.