A 74-year-old woman who died in a fire Christmas morning in her Penn Hills home lived in clutter so thick it severely hampered firefighters' efforts to save her, the fire chief said.

“We attempted to make entry. But we did get in a little ways, but there was just too much,” Chief Shawn Snyder said.

The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as Norma McClain. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.

The fire was reported about 5:30 a.m., and firefighters said the house was engulfed in flames when they arrived.

Officials initially feared that McClain's son, Mark Lunsford of Swissvale, was inside, too. But he arrived at the home shortly before 10:30 a.m. looking for her. As emergency officials broke the news to him, he bent over in grief as others tried to comfort him.

Neighbor Bob Walker said he called Lunsford several times, fearing he was inside until he walked up to the house.

Lunsford said his mother lived with her dog.

“She was hard-working. She was strong-willed. She was independent,” Lunsford, 56, said. “She had been working since she was 14.”

He said she was a registered nurse, most recently working at a facility in East Liberty.

Snyder said the fire might have started in the rear of the home, where the kitchen was located. The Allegheny County fire marshal's office was investigating Thursday.

Firefighters found McClain's body 5 to 10 feet from the front door in a stairwell, according to county officials.

“This was a hoarding situation,” Snyder said. “There was a lot of stuff in rooms. It was very tough to get in there.”

The red-brick house was so badly damaged, Snyder said he would seek an emergency order Friday to have the house torn down because he was concerned about the structure's stability.

Portions of the roof collapsed, and portions of the first and second floors burned through, Snyder said.

Neighbors said they frequently saw McClain walking her dog, a chocolate Labrador named Pepsi.

“She was a very nice lady,” Walker said.

The fate of the dog wasn't known Thursday afternoon, though neighbors said they didn't see the dog after the fire.

Bill Vidonic is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-380-5621 or bvidonic@tribweb.com.

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