Norwich -- A woman found unconscious inside a burning Lafayette Street home has died, according to an official at The William W. Backus Hospital.

A two-alarm fired broke out at the gray, two-story home at 91 Lafayette St., about 5 p.m. The woman, Marie Bronson, was the only person inside the home and was taken to Backus after emergency workers performed CPR on her at the scene, according to Yantic Volunteer Fire Department Chief Frank Blanchard.

Steve Smigiel was out jogging his usual route along Lafayette Street about 5 p.m. Thursday when he smelled the smoke.

"I could smell that it was a building," Smigiel said, glancing back at the fire scene. "The flames were coming out of the rear windows. I knocked on the door and got no answer, but it was unlocked. The smoke was choking."

When he opened the door he said thick, black smoke billowed out toward him. He started to crawl, feeling around in the dark when about five feet inside he felt a leg and started pulling.

Blanchard said two dogs died in the fire.

As the fire burned most of the smoke-filled home, Smigiel continued to pull on the leg to try to get the woman outside. That's when Jorge Reatas, who lives two houses away, and his brother-in-law, saw the flames and joined Smigiel.

As flames and smoke shot from the house, they put her on a neighbor's lawn and, with the help of a pair of volunteer firefighters who are also neighbors, started CPR.

"There was too much smoke," Reatas said. "We just took the lady and that's it."

Reatas' wife, Isabel, saw the flames from the couple's backyard and yelled to her husband. She said she knew the woman there as Marie, but did not know her last name. She said Marie is in her 70s and stopped by for tea.

When firefighters first arrived there was heavy fire inside the house and flames were showing from the roof and three sides of the building, Blanchard said. It took an aggressive attack to get it knocked down in about 30 minutes, he said.

Firefighters had a difficult time battling the flames because the house was cluttered, creating obstacles for crews to move around while trying to water down the flames, Blanchard said.

The fire appeared to have started in the rear of the first floor of the home and did not appear suspicious, he said. Fire crews from the Norwich Fire Department and Norwich fire marshal's office were working to determine the exact cause.

The fire left much of the inside of the first floor charred black. Some of the siding had melted and a neighbor's wooden porch appeared partially black from the flames.

Firefighters from the Yantic, Laurel Hill and Taftville volunteer departments helped battle the flames. Other crews also responded for assistance.

Smigiel said about 15 years ago his grandmother died in a house fire.

When asked what went through his mind as he went into the burning building he looked back at the fire scene.

"I don't really know. I just hope the woman's OK," he said.

m.naughton@theday.com