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She was 58 years old and lived in a two-bedroom rear apartment of Santo Domingo Invita on Passaic Street where the fire originated, Mayor Hector Carlos Lora said.
Flames blew through the roof of the 1½ -story brick building after the fire ignited shortly before 3:30 p.m. Firefighters had the main body of the blaze knocked down in under an hour but continued battling flame pockets.
It was then that they discovered the victim's remains amid the debris.
"The medical examiner responded to the scene and took custody of the remains, and an autopsy will be [conducted] later this week," Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Passaic Fire Chief Patrick Trentacost Sr., and Passaic Police Chief Luis A. Guzman said in a joint announcement.
"There were no other injuries to either residents or emergency personnel," they said.
The fire was declared under control around 5 p.m., about 90 minutes after it broke out. The cause wasn't immediately determined.
It damaged multi-family buildings on either side, displacing several residents.
Some streets into and out of the city remained temporarily closed.
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