The blaze broke out just after 7:15 a.m. Tuesday on the first floor of a two-story home on Beech Street near West End Place.
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The fire quickly went to three alarms.
NewsCopter 7 arrived to find flames fully engulfing the first and second floors and thick smoke billowing into the sky.
Firefighters entered the home through the front door and were battling the blaze from the inside.
Unfortunately, one person did not survive. She was later identified as 83-year-old Grace Sinnott.
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The family dog also did not make it out.
Officials say two people were rescued. A neighbor pulled two residents from the home out of a second floor window.
"We heard crackling and my wife looked out the window and said there's a fire, I said call 911 and then I ran out the door," neighbor Dan Rogers said.
He banged on the door to make sure everyone was awake.
"Heard voices in the second story window," Rogers said "I asked if they could get out. They said they didn't think they could get out through the house."
Fire chief Dan Czech said the neighbor set up a ladder to the second floor and two people were able to climb down to safety.
The top of the aluminum ladder used in the rescue was melted from the heat. But it held up long enough to help save two lives.
"It says everything about Cranford, this is who we are, I know every town says that but it is amazing," said Mayor Kathleen Miller Prunty.
The chief also said there were some delays in putting this fire out because of the location of the hydrant.
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Fire investigators are working to determine what sparked the blaze. They believe it started on the first floor.
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