A 78-year-old resident of a senior citizen apartment building in Stoystown, Somerset County, died Tuesday evening when a pot of food went unattended and caught fire on her stove.
Stoystown fire Chief David Johnson said the fire and smoke was confined to one apartment on the third story of the building at 121 W. Main St.
"We're not sure about the cause of death," Johnson said, "whether it was the smoke or medically-related."
Building residents were "shook up" by the news of the death of the woman, Johnson said, declining to identify the victim.
Emergency personnel were called to the three-story apartment building at 7:53 p.m. The situation was under control some 20 minutes later.
It was the first fatal fire in Stoystown in recent memory, Johnson said.
The county coroner's office is investigating.
