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Shortly before 4 p.m. on Friday, June 22, first responders were called to the 22600 block of Cavetown Church Road when neighbors spotted a shed up in flames in the backyard of an area home.
An off-duty firefighter and members of the Smithsburg Police Department arrived at the scene and found an unconscious 70-year-old woman who was suffering from severe burns in the yard not far from the engulfed shed.
First responders pulled her away from the flames and attempted to perform CPR to save her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
A team of approximately three dozen firefighters were able to quickly knock down the flames, though the shed was destroyed.
According to the Maryland State Fire Marshal, the shed had electricity and a small kitchen inside. While the cause of the blaze remains under investigation, an electrical failure or cooking fire cannot be ruled out.
The victim's name is being withheld pending an autopsy by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who will determine her exact cause of death.
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