United States (Pennsylvania) - Neighbors left flowers Sunday on the front steps of an Erie house where two women died in an early morning fire. It's devastating, Catherine Thames said as she sat on her porch across the street later in the day. The women, whose names weren't being released Sunday, were reportedly trapped in the attic at 933 W. 18th St. The fire there was called in Sunday at 3:25 a.m., an Erie County dispatcher said.

"It sounded like they were trapped up there," Chief Fire Inspector Guy Santone said. "They couldn't get out."

He said both women were found in the attic of the house, which had two apartments.

The women were pronounced dead at the scene by Erie County Coroner Lyell Cook on Sunday at about 5 a.m.

Authorities believe they know the identities of the women, but they weren't releasing any names pending autopsies scheduled for today.

"We do not have a positive identity on either one," Cook said Sunday.

He also said the cause of their deaths wouldn't be known until after the autopsies.

"I'll know better ... after the examinations," he said.

Yellow crime-scene tape remained stretched across the front of the house Sunday, and an Erie police cruiser sat in a driveway next to it.

Santone said the fire remained under investigation.

He said the blaze was extremely hot and created so much smoke in the neighborhood that when firefighters first arrived they couldn't tell which building was burning.

"The whole neighborhood was very smoky," he said.

Linda Rumberger, who lives next door, said she was woke up to hear her dog barking and someone pounding on the door of the burning house, trying to get the women out.

"It was bad," Thames said about the fire across from her own home.

The neighbors said several men tried to get inside to save the women, who had lived there five or six years. No one was home downstairs at the time of the fire, neighbors said.

Firefighters had it under control by 4:14 a.m., the dispatcher said.

"They did a really good job putting it out," Santone said.

He said no firefighters were injured fighting the blaze.

Debris remained Sunday in the driveways on both sides of the house, which is a little west of Liberty Street. Siding was melted and windows were torn out on the second story and the attic. Little damage was visible to the outside of the first floor.

Thames said the women who died there were nice neighbors who always said "hello." A vigil with prayers will be held there for them Wednesday at 5 p.m., Thames said.

"I feel that we in this neighborhood need to come together," she said.

Written by Erie Times-News