Woman dead in Brisbane unit fire

An elderly woman has died in a fire that tore through her second-storey unit in East Brisbane.

Firefighters were called after neighbours heard a fire alarm go off in the woman's Vulture Street unit about 9.45pm yesterday.

The property was well alight when crews arrived, and there was nothing they could do to save the woman.

Firefighters managed to prevent any serious damage to neighbouring units.

Pierre Crowl, who lives in the apartment block, has told The Courier-Mail of hearing a series of bangs as the fire took hold.

"It was three explosions, a lot of smoke and all of a sudden, people were racing around with (the victim) still in the apartment," he said.

Police and fire investigators will return to the scene today to determine the cause of the blaze.