BATON ROUGE - Officials identified a 64-year-old woman who died after a house caught fire off Napoleon Street behind Greater Pleasant Green Missionary Baptist Church on Thursday morning.

Phyllis Wilson, 64, died in the blaze. According to her family, Wilson would have turned 65 on Friday and the whole family was planning on celebrating her with a cruise set to leave Thursday. 

The Baton Rouge Fire Department was on the scene just after 4 a.m. Thursday, and the fire was under control by 5 a.m. that same morning.

While crews were searching the home for other occupants, a neighbor across the street said a child had escaped the home and was staying at another home nearby. The child, who family said was a 5-year-old boy, was not injured. 

"You died a hero Auntie Phyllis," Charlette Jackson said on Facebook. "I know you woke my grand baby up and told him to run for help."

One neighbor said they were awoken by loud noises and came outside to the terrifying sight of the fire.

"The fireman running cross my yard with a yellow hose, so I came out and when I came out I came into this tragedy of the house on fire and someone being in it," neighbor Ladre Johnson said.

Investigators are still working to see what caused the fire and whether the home's smoke detectors were working. Robert Combs with Baton Rouge Fire says this is a reminder that working smoke detectors can prevent future tragedies, especially during the colder months. 

"We're doing things that's not part of our normal routine as in using fire places, space heaters, that sort – anything we have to do to heat the home, so more tension is drawn to house fires during this time of year," Combs said.