PENN HILLS, Pa. -- Neighbors of a 64-year-old woman who died in a house fire in Penn Hills Wednesday morning said they tried to save her life, but the flames were just too intense.

Patricia Ainsworth's body was found just five feet away from the home's front door.

Emergency dispatchers said a neighbor across the street called to report the house in the 5000 block of Madison Avenue was on fire at about 4:30 a.m.

Neighbors ran across the street to try and help, but they were too late.

I tried to break down the door," said Michael Creighton, who lives across the street. "We kicked it in. We were kicking, kneeing, we were trying everything. It was a pretty solid door."

"She said she heard a popping, a real loud popping. She said she feels bad that maybe if she would have gotten up, she could have saved her. But her husband, my brother-in-law, ran in to help but they couldn't do anything," said Linda Comfort, who is related to one of the people who tried to save Ainsworth.

Penn Hills officer Geoff Agreen told Hall that even once fire arrived, they couldn't get past the out of control flames.

Creighton said knowing they were so close to Ainsworth makes the loss even more difficult to bear.

"I feel worse now knowing that. I wish I never would have known otherwise," Creighton said.

"She was lonely. My sister-in-law said she would talk about her husband. She was lonely. She didn't have anybody," said Comfort. "She was a real nice lady."

Hall reported Ainsworth did have friends who were clearly emotional over her loss.

Investigators have confirmed the victim was a smoker and said that the cause of the fire was likely accidental.

"The fire is typically confined to the first floor in the front part of the living room which was being used as a bedroom area by the victim," said Penn Hills Fire Marshal Jack Mason

Investigators said it appears Ainsworth was smoking in bed at the time of the fire.

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