Fire witness said she heard "roaring" and saw her yard 'lit up'

The remains of what was a mobile home at 21 Whispering Wind Lane in Rochester. (Lebanon Voice photo)

ROCHESTER - The neighbor who called 911 to report a fire on Whsipering Wind Lane early today said she awoke to the sound of "a roaring" fire that "lit up my yard."
Elizabeth Sawyer, who lives across the street from where the fire tore through a mobile home killing an elderly woman, said after she called 911, she rushed to a mobile home next to the victim's house to awaken the neighbors so they could get a safe distance from the raging inferno.
She said the neighbors, in turn, kept a careful eye on the mobile home on the other side of the victim's home, because the elderly woman there was hard of hearing and never did get up as the home beside her was leveled by flame.
Rochester Fire and Police responded around 3:10 a.m. to 21 Whispering Wind Lane to find the structure fully involved with a partial roof collapse.
Officials declined to identify the victim pending notification of next of kin.
Sawyer said the victim was in her mid-70s and suffered from poor health.

"She was a nice woman," Sawyer said.
An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.
While the investigation is still ongoing, safety officials believe the fire and death were accidental.
Mike Cook, who lives down the road, said when he heard the firetrucks he walked down to see what was going on.
"When firefighters got here, there was little they could do but watch it burn," he said. "They put the hoses on it, but that was it. I never saw anything burn so fast in my life."