Keisha Hopkins was about to walk her dogs in Belair-Edison when she saw people running past her up the street.

Neighbors were darting to a house in the 3300 block of Cardenas Avenue, she said, and flames and smoke could be seen on the main floor of the two-story attached rowhouse.

Many of her neighbors were trying to do what they could to help after hearing someone yelling from inside the home, she said.

Several people went onto the patio and up to the door, but were unsuccessful getting inside, she said.

“It was a sad scene,” Hopkins said.

Crews were dispatched to the area at 1:42 p.m. and one person found inside the house is dead, according to fire department officials.

Donise Harrington, a neighbor on Cardenas Avenue, said she could hear the smoke alarm going off at about 1:27 p.m. and afterward it was “just so much, so fast.”

The porch was melting, she said, and when the front door was finally opened, there was a thick blanket of black smoke and soot.

Fire trucks were still on the scene at 6 p.m. and officials have not yet confirmed the identity of the person found inside.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.

Homicide detectives were sent to the scene of the fatal fire to assist with the investigation, according to a report from WJZ, a media partner of The Baltimore Banner.

The person’s death has not been ruled as a homicide at this time, a police spokesperson told the station.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death, the fire department said.