ADAMS CENTER — The woman killed in Wednesday afternoon's fire at Adams Center was identified Thursday as a former Hermon resident, Joyce Nolan, 68.

Mrs. Nolan's identity was confirmed Thursday afternoon in an autopsy conducted by Dr. Samuel A. Livingstone, Jefferson County medical examiner. No determination of cause of death was revealed by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department.

Her body was found by firefighters in a second-floor room of the duplex at 13085 Route 11.

Meanwhile, state and county investigators were at the fire scene most of Thursday in an effort to determine a cause of the blaze. Glenn W. Morrison, county director of fire and emergency management, said investigators believe they have found the area of origin, "but we have one more witness to interview" before final determinations are reached.

That person is Victoria A. Roth, who was listed Thursday in serious condition in the burn unit at Upstate Medical University, Syracuse.

She and another woman were rescued from a roof at the rear of the burning house by three people — a couple from Canada and Craig B. O'Donnell of Carthage.

Despite that rescue, Mr. O'Donnell said Thursday that as he drove back to his workplace, Fuccillo Dodge in Adams, all he could feel Wednesday was disappointment because he couldn't get far enough into the house to find Ms. Nolan.

"I was disappointed because I couldn't get inside," the 38-year-old auto technician said as he recounted the events at the fire scene.

Mr. O'Donnell said he was driving south on Route 11, test-driving a new vehicle, when he saw smoke coming from the area of the front porch. He said his initial thought was that someone was having a barbecue, but then he wondered why they would be cooking on the porch on such a beautiful day. He turned around, pulling up to the scene at the same time as Robert and Christine Glover, Uxbridge, Ontario.

Flames were showing in a front downstairs window, he said. He tried three different doors before he could get in, and a dog rushed past him. He called out, he said, but got no answers.

Covering his face with his shirt, he said, he reached the kitchen and living areas, but had to retreat for air. At the back of the house, he and the Glovers found Mrs. Roth and another woman on the roof.

"My mother-in-law is upstairs," Mrs. Roth repeatedly screamed, he said.

He said he asked where the stairway was, and made another attempt to enter the structure. By that time, however, the smoke and flames had intensified so much that "there was no way you could get in there."

A neighbor, not identified, also tried to get in, he said.

Mrs. Roth, her head and face covered with soot, dropped a dog to Mr. O'Donnell, and told her rescuers where they could find a ladder to help her and the other woman off the roof, he said.

That accomplished, Mr. O'Donnell said, he found a garden hose at the rear of the dwelling. He turned on the water and directed it at a vehicle parked in the driveway, intent on preventing a gasoline explosion. While he was doing that, the first fire units arrived. When firefighters set their hose, their first rush of water hit Mr. O'Donnell, he said.

He immediately left the scene, heading back to Fuccillo.

"They didn't know where I was, and I didn't have a phone," he said.

When he reached Fuccillo, a co-worker treated him for smoke inhalation.

Mrs. Nolan lived in an apartment with her daughter-in-law, grandson Joseph and granddaughter Kelly. Another granddaughter, Brielle, also survives.

Not revealed Thursday was whether another woman in the apartment, identified only as Kim, was a resident or a visitor.

The other apartment was occupied by Belle Smith, who was unharmed.