A woman in her late 70s was killed in a house fire in Southold Wednesday morning.
The Willow Pond Lane home caught fire at around 10:30 a.m., prompting her neighbor to report the blaze on his radio.
Volunteer firefighter George Berry, 79, then ran over to the home and knocked the door down with a crowbar. He was not wearing any protective gear.
He says the fire was too intense to rush in and save the woman, who was confined to a motorized chair.
Officials say the fire does not appear to be suspicious. They say it began in the living room and spread throughout the first floor of the home. The woman was found in the living room.
Kathy Schrifer was the victim's aide. She says she left the home to run the woman's errands about one hour before the fire started.
"I'm racking my brain now," she says. "Did I leave anything on? I'm like 99.9 percent sure there was nothing on."
The victim's identity has been withheld until the next of kin can be notified. Neighbors say she was not married and had no children.