A Wilkes-Barre woman died early Tuesday morning of carbon monoxide poisoning following a fire at her Wyoming Street home. Wilkes-Barre Fire Chief Jay Delaney said firefighters responded to 276 Wyoming St. around 11:30 p.m. Monday and found Laurie Merritt, 51, unconscious in her home. Merritt was taken to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital early Tuesday, where she was pronounced dead, said Luzerne County Coroner Bill Lisman.

Lisman said an autopsy confirmed carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause of death. Merritt lived at the Wyoming Street home with her daughter, Kristin Merritt, who was at work at the time of the fire."She was just the most kind and generous person," Kristin Merritt said. "She would put anybody before herself. She always had a smile on her face. She was just an angel."A neighbor, who asked not to be named, said he was watching television with his son in their living room when the smell of smoke wafted in from Merritt's home. He said a lot of smoke was lingering in the alley. Once he realized there was a fire, he broke a window to Merritt's home and looked inside, but didn't see anyone in the room. His son in the meantime called the fire department. He said he had known Merritt for about eight years as both his neighbor and his mail carrier."I prayed for her last night," he said. "She's such a nice person."He often saw her working in her garden, he said, and she had invited him over on occasions. He said she, like many of his neighbors, was always trying to look out for each other. "She was such a sweet lady," he said. Delaney said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.