One woman is dead after a fire this morning in New Castle, Lawrence County.

The Lawrence County Coroner's Office said Gerri Black, 59, died after being unable to escape the fire at a house on Good Ave. Thursday morning.

The fire started shortly after 6 a.m. Fire crews were still on scene for hours after that.

"There were flames, five ten feet coming out the windows," Dave Rishel, fire chief for the Shenango Area Fire District, said.

Crews spent about an hour getting things under control. Rishel said the flames were so intense that entering the house was impossible until they were knocked down.

"There were three, actually, three ceilings in the house we had to work through that to get to the scene of the fire," he said.

Rishel said once they did that and knocked the flames down, they

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