A house fire Thursday morning in Upper St. Clair killed one person and injured four others, including two police officers.

The officers were treated at a local hospital for smoke inhalation and released, according to the Upper St. Clair Police Department.

No information was released on the person who died or the other two people who were hurt.

The fire broke out before dawn in a nearly century-old two-story stone residence in the 2200 block of Country Club Drive.

Neighbor Tom Meston told TribLive a noise woke him and his wife around 6 a.m. Within minutes, by the time they realized the home next door was on fire, first responders had arrived.

“The fire department showed up and got to work pretty quickly, especially given the conditions,” said Meston, 57, who moved to Country Club Drive about 20 years ago. “The flames were intense and they were moving fast.”

More than a dozen firefighters from at least four South Hills municipalities battled the blaze in freezing temperatures. Water from their firehoses turned to ice on tree branches in the home’s front yard.

By 11 a.m., five hours into fighting the fire, billowing smoke still filled the neighborhood.

Several investigators with the Allegheny County Fire Marshal were on scene. A spokesperson for the fire marshal said the blaze was under investigation but declined further comment.

Around noon, first responders loaded an ambulance with what appeared to be a body. An Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office vehicle arrived on the block a short time later.

Meston said he knew his next-door neighbors well, calling them “really nice people and a really, really nice family.”

He declined to name them.

A retired couple — a husband and wife, possibly in their 70s — lived in the circa-1928 Tudor-style home, Meston and other neighbors said. County property records list the property as 5,755 square feet with four bedrooms and 5½ baths.

An adult daughter also might have been there at the time of the fire, Meston said.

The home destroyed by fire was one of the older buildings on the street, possibly the oldest, Meston said.

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“Me and my wife are just shocked by this,” Meston said. “It’s not what we were expecting to see when we woke up today. When something like this happens, it’s upsetting.”

Even six hours after firefighters arrived on the scene, the fire could be smelled nearly a half-mile away at the township’s municipal building. Public-works crews kept salting the road to keep it safe for firefighters.

A Salvation Army truck set up near the scene, which had been blocked off by yellow police tape, to serve firefighters coffee and breakfast for much of the morning.

The residential road, which several neighbors described as quiet, remained closed Thursday afternoon.

County officials referred media questions to Upper St. Clair officials. Those municipal officials then referred questions back to the county.