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Elderly Woman Dies In Blaze At New Jersey Home

HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Officials say an elderly New Jersey woman who used a medical alert device to notify authorities about a fire at her home was killed in the blaze.

NJ.com reports that emergency responders went to Patricia Gennett's Hopewell Township home around 10:15 a.m. Friday.

Police officers broke down a door but the flames and heavy smoke prevented them from getting inside the residence. The 85-year-old woman's body was found a short time later after crews were finally able to enter the home.

Gennett was the only person in the home when the fire occurred. Her cause of death had not been determined as of Saturday afternoon.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by township authorities and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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