Elderly woman dies in Everett blaze

The fire broke out shortly after 9 p.m. in the two-and-one-half-story multifamily home at 8 Blake Terrace. An off-duty State Police K-9 sergeant was driving in the neighborhood and saw the flames, State Police Captain Dan Risteen said. The sergeant rushed into the house, but was pushed back by heavy smoke and flames, Risteen said.

Firefighters quickly arrived and brought the Powers out of the burning building.

Everett Fire Chief David Butler said: ‘‘We went right into rescue mode. They [the fire crews] knew there were people trapped.’’

Humphries, who was the first fire officer on the scene, said, ‘‘We had the whole front of the building going, from the first floor. The first company had a report of victims in the building. They attempted a rescue in the second floor.’’

Fire officials believe the two-alarm fire started just outside the front of the dwelling. Humphries said a first-floor occupant told investigators she had been smoking a cigarette on the porch shortly before the fire broke out.

State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said the two occupants of the first floor escaped.

The backyard of Pam Calnan’s Glendhill apartment faces the burned home. She sobbed Wednesday night after learning that her neighbor had died.

‘‘They live right in the back. You look out my window and you can see their house in back. That’s his car right around the corner,’’ she said between tears. ‘‘I can’t even believe it. I’m so upset. I talked to them all the time.’’

Calnan said the woman had been very ill lately and that her brother was caring for her with the help of visiting nurses.

‘‘She was a very sick woman,’’ she said. ‘‘He was dedicated to his sister. He did everything for her.

‘‘I always greeted them. I just talked to him. He goes ‘Hi Pam. How you doing?’ I go ‘Hi, how ya doin? How’s your sister?’ and he would say, ‘She’s not doing well, Pam, but we take one day at a time.’ ’’

The home was seriously damaged by flames, smoke, and water.

Mayor Carlo DeMaria Jr., who was at the scene, said he grew up in the neighborhood.

He was shaken by the sister’s death and her brother’s injuries, and said the victims were very close with his family.

‘‘They’re just really, really great people in the community,’’ DeMaria said. ‘‘It’s terrible — they’re elderly people — for anyone to lose their life, but to lose their life that way it must be unimaginable.’’

Fire crews from Chelsea, Boston, Revere, Malden, and Massport assisted.

John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com