A burned house at 47 Rockledge Lane in Saranac Lake is seen mid-afternoon Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

SARANAC LAKE — Her front door was ablaze, and the back door was blocked. Carol Omar died Monday morning after she could not escape her burning house in time.

The 77-year-old lived by herself in the small cottage at 47 Rockledge Lane, on a hilltop overlooking Moody Pond. She called in the blaze to 911 at 1:53 a.m., according to Essex County Emergency Services Director Don Jaquish.

“She told us the front door was on fire,” Jaquish said.

The 911 dispatcher told her to get out, but flames were consuming the front door. As it turned out, the back door was obstructed and couldn’t open all the way, Jaquish said.

The Saranac Lake, Paul Smiths-Gabriels and Lake Placid volunteer fire departments, the Saranac Lake Volunteer Rescue Squad and New York State Police responded, and the Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department stood by at Saranac Lake’s firehouse.

When firefighters arrived, they saw “heavy fire coming out of the front of the house,” according to Saranac Lake Fire Chief Brendan Keough. At first, they couldn’t verify whether the home was occupied.

They forced open the back door to search for an occupant and found Omar unresponsive inside. They got her out through the back door and immediately administered CPR and medical treatment, but she ultimately succumbed.

Firefighters attacked the fire from the front of the house where the flames were heavy. There was “significant damage” to the home, according to Keough.

“The fire was well involved by the time we got there,” he said.

His fire department was on the scene for several hours.

Essex County Coroner Jay Heald, of Elizabethtown, responded to the home and pronounced Omar dead at the scene. Her body was transported to Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital in Plattsburgh, where an autopsy is scheduled on Tuesday.

The fire was accidental, Jaquish confirmed. It is still under investigation by Essex County fire investigators, but Jaquish said he will be able to say more about it Tuesday.

Omar worked at Adirondack Correctional Facility in Ray Brook and was a longtime teacher in the New York state prison system. The state Department of Corrections and Community Services issued a statement to the Enterprise mourning her loss.

“The Department is saddened to learn of the sudden passing of Carol Omar, a long-time employee who served the Department for nearly 24 years. We extend our deepest condolences to Ms. Omar’s family, friends and loved ones,” DOCCS spokesperson Rachel Connors said.

“Ms. Omar was employed by the Department as a Teacher 4 since 1997. She taught at Willard Drug Treatment Campus, Five Points Correctional Facility and Adirondack Correctional Facility throughout her career, most recently teaching at Adirondack Correctional Facility.”

The two-bedroom cottage was built in the early 1900s. Essex County property records show Omar purchased it in 2018.