Fire Investigators are looking into exactly what caused the fire that killed an elderly Altamont woman. Our Innae Park has more.

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ALTAMONT, N.Y. – The fire at 2 Marion Court in Altamont had been burning for some time, according to officials, before they arrived just before noon on Tuesday.

“It’s very unfortunately there were no neighbors around at the time or anybody out,” said Altamont Fire Chief Paul Miller. “It’s just an unfortunate time of day.”

Once firefighters reported to the scene, they found the body of Ethel Davis, 71, inside the home.

“They found an elderly woman lying on the floor inside the door,” Miller said.

He says they believe Davis, who lived at the house alone, may have been trying to escape.

One neighbor came home from picking up her child from preschool to all of the activity.

“As I later pulled in, I saw flames pouring out of the house, smoke pouring out of the house as well,” said Casey Conklin, a mother of four. “It’s devastating to have this happen to anybody, no matter what time of year, but even more so with the holidays coming up. It was awful.”

Town and state fire investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire, but they believe it originated in the living room on the first floor.

Miller described, “The rest of the house has just a lot of heat and smoke damage throughout. It was pretty much contained to the front area of the house, where most of the damage is.”

The exact time the fire started is still unknown.

The two story home is located in a cul-du-sac, which Miller says may have made the fire less noticeable, being off of the main road. In the end, a salesperson just passing by the area was the one who discovered the fire. “

He saw the smoke, really didn’t think something was right, turned around, came back over and dialed 911 on his cell phone.”

That passerby’s alertness is something that fire officials urge all residents to have as well.

“It’s better to call us and not need us than not to call and something unfortunate happens,” Miller said. “If someone else had gone by just 10 minutes sooner, who knows.”

Authorities are also still investigating the cause of Davis’ death. Results from an autopsy are not expected to be released until Wednesday morning, at the earliest.