The identity of the elderly woman who was found dead in the burned-out house has still not been confirmed. Dep. Chief Gino Lucchetti said according to the woman's neighbors, she lived alone and was physically incapacitated.
According to the assessors database on the Newton city website, the single-family home at 39 Cottonwood Road is owned by a Phyllis Bennett. The fiscal 2011 value of the home was $604,900. The database also lists the Newton Centre home as being built in 1955.
A call reporting a fire with people trapped inside came in about 3:20 a.m., according to scanner reports. Patch correspondent Stephen Walsh, who was on the scene, reported severe fire conditions, including an electrical transformer explosion on arcing wires on the side wall of the single-family house.
