Fire that killed elderly woman in Brooklyn caused by overloaded power strip

CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Investigators say a deadly fire in Brooklyn was sparked by an overloaded power strip.

81-year-old Gertrude Duncan was killed when flames tore through the front of her apartment building on Pacific Street in Crown Heights Thursday.

Duncan, who was asleep in the first floor front bedroom when the fire broke out, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her daughter Barbara lived in the back bedroom. She and neighbors tried to rescue the trapped grandmother, but they were not able to get her out.

One tenant suffered second degree burns to her hands, but she is expected to survive.