According to area firefighters, the rescue of an elderly woman during a northeast Houston house fire was hampered by burglar bars on her home and intense heat.

Eighty-nine-year-old Beverly Whitley died at a Houston-area hospital early Thursday morning from complications after her home caught fire. The Houston Fire Department stated that the fire was reported on Briarwick Lane at Bentley Road around 3:00 a.m.

Neighbors saw that Whitley was trapped in her burning home and desperately tried to get assistance to her. They also called 911.

Burglar bars and the intense heat from the fire were to blame in getting to Whitley. Firefighters cut through the bars to get into the home in an effort to save her life. Additional reports indicate that Whitley’s dog also died in the fire. It is believed that a lit candle may be to blame for the blaze.

Whitley’s husband was a retired firefighter who died recently. Her daughter died earlier this year from cancer.

Cicely C. Mitchell/ CBS Radio Houston