Groton -- City police have identified the woman who died in a fire at the Branford Manor apartment complex last Wednesday night as 31-year-old Anna Beroa.

City police said an autopsy revealed that she died as result of smoke inhalation. Police and the state fire marshal are continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.

Police and firefighters responded to 148 Branford Ave. just before 9 p.m. and found the second-floor apartment in flames. A witness also told them someone was trapped inside. Police said the severity of the fire made a rescue effort impossible. Firefighters from Groton City and other area departments extinguished the blaze but not before it gutted unit 148 and affected the three nearest apartments in the two-story, L-shaped building.

Michael Burdick, who lives nearby, said at the scene Wednesday night that he was at the woman's boyfriend’s apartment when her children called and asked the boyfriend to come over.

Burdick said his friend said the woman was distressed and throwing things out of the apartment. The friend said he had taken the two children outside to his car when the fire broke out. Burdick and his friend tried to rescue the woman, Burdick said, but the flames already were too hot.