Friends and neighbors identified the occupant of 15 Arnold St. as Penny Schongalla, a prominent town woman and devoted parishioner at First Congregational Church of Old Greenwich.
Inspector Chris Doyle of the Fire Department said firefighters found a woman unconscious on the second floor of the house around 3:50 a.m. She was found lying half-outside her bathroom in the hallway and rushed to Stamford Hospital's trauma unit, Doyle said.
Emergency physicians in Stamford decided to take Schongalla to a hyperbaric chamber at Norwalk Hospital, which is used for treating carbon monoxide poisoning. Such chambers offer high-pressure oxygenation.
Doyle said she suffered severe smoke inhalation. Hospital officials described Schongalla's condition as serious but declined to comment further.
No one else was injured in the blaze that started in the kitchen, Doyle said. The cause is under investigation.
Next-door neighbor Annelies Parisi, 51, said she, her husband and 9-year-old son awoke to the sounds of sirens before dawn and ran panic-stricken into the street. Parisi said she regularly cooks for Schongalla and that she and other neighbors often check on the woman. Schongalla is the three-bedroom home's sole occupant, Parisi said.
"I feel so sorry for her family. They're a very close family," Parisi said from a living room that, mere hours earlier, had been filled with concerned neighbors drinking coffee and talking about their friend.
One of Schongalla's relatives was on the scene yesterday but too upset to speak. Several insurance officials also were on scene.
A 30-acre park down the street from the home is named for Schongalla's late husband Edward R. Schongalla, a science teacher at Eastern Middle School from 1956 to 1986.
The Rev. David D. Young, pastor at First Congregational Church, said Schongalla is a remarkable, amazing person of deep faith who is extremely active in the church.
"We're very sorry, just deeply, deeply sorry for this tragedy," Young said. "I know that the prayers and support of the congregation are with her and we just hope she is OK."
Parisi lit candles in her home for Schongalla, whom she described as a highly intelligent, kind and well-read woman.
"She's knows what is happening, always, and she is a very Christian person," Parisi said. "I feel bad for her. Where is she going to go now? She cannot live there anymore."
Doyle said the police and Greenwich Emergency Medical Services Inc. arrived at the house after receiving a call from a medical alert company. Before she passed out, the elderly woman apparently managed to activate a pendant she wore in case of medical emergencies, Doyle said.
Police arrived first at the house, Doyle said, and immediately recognized a structure fire. The Fire Department was then called, Doyle said.
"The firefighters on scene did a phenomenal job of search and rescue," Doyle said.
Doyle said the home's smoke detectors were functioning. He said the home suffered significant structural damage.
Sue Asselin, parish nurse at First Congregational, said Schongalla is fiercely independent and resists the notion of leaving her longtime home.
"She's a very determined, independent soul who no matter what life threw her has always kept a positive, can-do attitude," said Asselin, a Riverside resident who regularly checks on Schongalla. "She had difficulty walking but it didn't stop her. She loves the outdoors, get out and looking at the trees. She's always commenting on what the trees and flowers are doing."
