An 84-year-old Addison woman tragically perished in a house fire early Tuesday morning at 2730 Ray Road, east of Hosner Road.
The lady’s name is being withheld pending notification of her family.
Addison and Oxford firefighters responded to the house fire at 12:20 a.m. after a neighbor smelled something burning, looked outside and called 9-1-1.
Upon arrival, firefighters found the approximately 1,200-square-foot ranch home with attached garage fully involved in the blaze with flames shooting through the roof and windows, according to Addison Fire Chief George Spencer.
Neighbors told fire personnel the elderly homeowner, who lived alone, was possibly still inside.
The blaze was brought under control within 30 minutes of it being reported to dispatch, according to Spencer. When fire personnel searched the home, the woman’s body was found on the floor within 10 feet of the front door.
Deputy Forensic Pathologist Dr. Bernardino Pacris, of the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office, said the lady died of soot and smoke inhalation.
Fire investigators from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Dept. are working to determine the cause of the fire, which does not appear to be suspicious at this time.
Based on where the greatest amount of fire damage occurred, Spencer said it appears the blaze started in the home’s kitchen/utility room area.
Oxford Middle School teacher Libby Dolsen lived on Ray Road for 25 years and said she only knew the woman ‘very casually.?
She remembers the lady in her front yard tending to her perennial garden beneath the shade of four large oak trees. ‘We would wave and say hi,? Dolsen said. ‘She was always friendly to me.?
A small barn sits behind the home, a remnant from 20 years ago when the woman and her late husband raised a pair of standardbred horses.