(NECN: Kathryn Sotnik, Danville, N.H.) - The State Fire Marshal's office in New Hampshire confirms a deceased victim was removed from a home following a large house fire with an audible explosion in Danville earlier Monday.
They have not made a positive identification on the body yet.
Eyewitness video showed that raging fire engulf the home along Pine Street.
Ron Metcalfe says he was delivering a meal to the elderly homeowner this afternoon, who lived there by herself.
"I went in the house to deliver Meals on Wheels, I set her meal down on the dining room table, and her little dog came running to me as he always did....I had a cookie for him, and as I looked up and I called to Audrey, she wasn't sitting in her normal chair, and so I believe she was in the back of the house," he says.
Seconds after, something went dreadfully wrong.
"I heard her yell, and I told her she had mail, and just then as I looked up I saw a huge ball of fire and it just exploded to the front of the house," Metcalfe says.
Local
"I heard there was an explosion and a fire at the residence here," said Danville Chief Steve Woitkun, not offering anymore details about the missing woman.
Fire officials have yet to confirm exactly what caused the soon-to-be 89-year-old woman's home to go up in flames.
Hours after the initial fire, the frame of the home still smoldered as investigators sifted through debris.
Metcalfe says he desperately tried to help but it was too late.
"I started calling for Audrey and I could hear her, she was trying I answer me, and I went in to try and find her but I couldn't breathe, and so I had to leave," he says.
Neighbors describe the homeowner as a "good 'Ol Yankee," who would always be friendly to all the neighbors.
The State Fire Marshals office is leading the investigation.
