STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) - Authorities say an elderly Sterling Heights woman has died after fire ripped through her home early Tuesday morning.
Fire crews responded to a home along Hanks Lane, in the area of 19 Mile and Mound roads, around 4:45 a.m. after receiving a 911 call from passersby who saw flames.
Authorities said 93-year-old Marcella Nowak was rescued from the home and rushed to the hospital, where she died a short time later. Nowak had lived in that house for decades, according to neighbors.
Assistant Fire Chief Ed Miller said crews kept the fire from spreading, but the home was heavily damaged.
"It's probably going to be a total loss. It was through the roof. There was a lot of stuff in the house that added to the fuel, so there's a lot of damage," Miller told WWJ's Charlie Langton.
Officials are still trying to determine a cause of the fire.
