A Stoney Creek father of three will have to explain to his three children why their kindly neighbour won't be knocking on their door to deliver chocolate bars anymore.

The woman, who was in her mid-60s, was pronounced dead at Hamilton General Hospital early yesterday after a fire at her Gateshead Crescent home in Stoney Creek.

Hamilton police and fire officials did not confirm her identity.

However, neighbours say she was Carol Weaver, a former Canada Post employee, who lived alone in the townhouse complex south of Queenston Road for about the past decade. They said she is survived by a grown son and daughter.

Hamilton firefighters responded to the blaze about 1:48 a.m. yesterday and found a mattress fire inside a second-floor bedroom.

A search found the victim with severe burns.

Weaver's neighbours, who asked only to be identified as Vince and Maria, won't soon forget the image of their neighbour being pulled out of the townhouse as firefighters worked in vain to save her life.

Vince said he and his wife returned from a dinner dance about 1:15 a.m.

He said his 12-year-old daughter came into the living room to advise him she smelled smoke. It wasn't long before the scene was lit up by the flashing lights of fire trucks and police cruisers.

Vince said police pushed open the door of the townhouse in a frantic effort to find his neighbour, who lived with her cat, Leo.

"She was a nice lady. She was always friendly," said Vince, who recalled yesterday how he gave her the cat eight years ago.

He said the woman would occasionally knock on his door to give chocolate bars to his three children, aged 12, 10 and seven.

Other neighbours said Weaver had suffered from failing health for some time after apparently injuring herself on the job. They said the woman, who was a smoker, was friendly but kept to herself.

The Ontario Fire Marshall office is investigating the fire.

Damage is estimated at $50,000.

No other injuries were reported.

Hamilton Fire Department spokesperson John Verbeek said there were three smoke alarms in the house but none had batteries.

Verbeek said elderly or disabled Hamiltonians can call the department to have alarms installed for free or to have smoke alarm batteries changed.

The program is called Alarmed and Ready. The service can be provided by calling 905-546-2424 ext. 3382.

The incident is Hamilton's first fire fatality of 2010.

Meanwhile, Hamilton firefighters responded to another house fire in the central city about 2 a.m. yesterday.

That fire in a vacant house on Harvey Street, in the Sanford Avenue and Cannon Street area, caused about $75,000 damage and is being investigated by the Ontario Fire Marshall's office.

Neighbour Gerald Maloney, who lives just two doors down from the blaze, said the house tenants, a couple with a five year-old boy, had just moved out of the house the previous afternoon.

Maloney has lived in the neighbourhood for 25 years. He lives in his house with his wife and 28-year-old son.

"My son has cerebral palsy so we're really cautious about this type of thing," he said. "It was pretty well engulfed."

Maloney said the houses in the neighbourhood are more than 100 years old.

"And they are pretty dry. A lot of these houses have been renovated and not properly renovated so you have improper wiring," he said.

kpeters@thespec.com

905-526-3388