PALATINE, Ill (STMW)– A woman’s body was found in a basement laundry room after a fire in northwest suburban Palatine late Friday morning.

Joann Joyce, 58, of the 1100 block on W. Mallard Dr., was pronounced dead on the scene at 12:35 a.m., according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

At 11:51 a.m., a woman called the Palatine Fire Department to report she could see and smell smoke in a house on W. Mallard Dr., according to a release from the department.

The caller said she could not get into the house and told authorities there was a woman still inside in a second-floor bedroom. A smoke detector was sounding inside, the release said.

Crews forced entry into the house at 11:56 a.m. They moved a hose line up the stairs and began a search of the first and second floors, but could not find anyone, the release said.

Firefighters then advanced the hose line to the basement where they encountered heavy smoke and fire damage, but no fire and at 12:07 p.m. they found the woman in the laundry room while searching with a thermal imaging camera, the release said.

Efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful and she was transported to Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

The woman was the only person home at the time according to the release.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Palatine Fire Department Investigative Team, Palatine police and State Fire Marshal’s office.

Twenty-three members of the Palatine Fire Dept. were assisted by crews from the Palatine Rural Fire Protection District, Rolling Meadows Fire Department and Arlington Heights Fire Department.

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