ORANGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A woman is dead following a fire that broke out in a duplex early Friday morning.

WCBS 880′s Sean Adams: People Were Trapped On A Balcony

WCBS 880′s Sean Adams reports the death toll would have been far worse if firefighters hadn’t been able to rescue more than a dozen people trapped on the second floor.

The fire broke out at around 2:00 a.m. at 124 Park Street, which is an old, wood-framed Victorian-style duplex. Monique Bolton was startled awake by the fire alarm.

“I was deep asleep,” Bolton said.

The main area of the blaze was contained on the first floor, where the woman was killed.

Firefighters rescued 15 people from the building, but it was difficult.

“They had a lot of heavy smoke pushing up from the first floor, so they had a hard time,” said Chief Robert Manganelli of the Orange Fire Department.