Breaking news from The Roanoke Times -Breaking NewsFire kills 85-year-old woman in Roanoke

Breaking news from The Roanoke Times -Breaking NewsFire kills 85-year-old woman in Roanoke:

Breaking News
Fire kills 85-year-old woman in Roanoke
Updated: 11:12 AM
Northwest home sustains an estimated $80,000 in damage.

By Shawna Morrison

One person was killed in a house fire in Roanoke early Saturday morning.

Roanoke Fire-EMS got a call about a blaze at 4526 Eden Drive N.W. at 2:26 a.m., said spokeswoman Tiffany Bradbury. Crews arrived to find the rear of the home, located off Hershberger Road just east of Valley View Mall, engulfed in flames.

It took about half an hour for crews to gain control of the blaze. They contained the fire to the home’s rear addition.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Bradbury identified the victim of the fire as Delores Zimmerman, 85.

The fire caused an estimated $80,000 in damage to the home, Bradbury said.

This is a report I got from a Firefighter on scene:

Intial responders found a 1 1/2 story residence with heavy fire showing. A man was on the porch with a shotgun, he had been trying to 'blow the locks off to rescue the elderly resident" they escorted him off the porch to his house ... shell casings were still on the porch - the elderly lady was found deceased as well as her cat --- the fire started in the rear of the house it was dispatched at around 225am --- E10 cleared from the scene at 1030AM and E13 L2 INV 1 PD 282 and off duty lead investigators still on scene at this time - i know that 2 medics, 3 engines, 1 ladder, RS1, BC2 were on scene ( i know E10, L2, E2 E13 M10 were on scene, but i don't know who else)