TACOMA, Wash. - A 43-year-old woman who was rescued from a house fire Friday morning in the Hilltop area of Tacoma has died of her injuries, family members said.

But two others who were trapped by flames on the home's second floor made it alive due to the valiant efforts of firefighters who raced to the scene. And five others on the ground floor made it out on their own.

When firefighters pulled up in front of the home in the 1300 block of South 8th Street, they saw the two people screaming for help from a second-floor window.

Mike Hardin, who was there at the scene, witnessed the whole thing.

"I'm seeing the 20-year-old daughter and one of the people who was upstairs sleeping hanging out the bedroom window, and they're like, 'How are we getting down? How are we getting down?'"

Just a couple of moments later, the first fire truck raced up to the scene. Firefighter Casey Novak hopped out. His team set up a ladder, and Novak was the first to climb up to the windowsill.

"They were very excited, so it took a lot of coercing on our part to get them out on the ladder," Novak said.

Novak got the women down safely, then went back into the home to get out the third woman, Judy Abson, who was trapped upstairs. She was taken to a Tacoma hospital, where she later died.

Mike Hardin said her death was through no fault of the firefighters on the scene.

"The fire team was brilliant - they were on it. They were on the scene within minutes," he said.

Firefighters don't usually talk to reporters about their heroics, but KOMO News asked Novak about his thoughts after what happened during the rescue.

"We all do this job because we love it," he said. "We're just glad we can be here to help the people, you know, and be at the right place at the right time."

The fire was extinguished in about 30 minutes, and six people who lived in the home have been displaced.

Investigators believe the fire started in the basement of the 99-year-old home, but the exact cause is not yet known.

Once the fire started, it spread quickly because it is of the type of construction that has no firebreaks, leaving open space inside the walls from basement to attic. There were lots of combustibles in the basement as well.

One resident of the house who asked not to be identified said the house had electrical problems, with lights dimming and flashing unpredictably. She also said there was a computer and entertainment center in the basement.

Among those who got out of the house alive were two children 12 and 14, and they're staying with family friends.