BRIGHTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- A woman was found dead in a burning apartment in Brighton Tuesday morning.

Firefighters in Brighton responded to the fire on Fedelis Street early Tuesday morning.

Neighbors say they woke up to chaos as a fire burned on the fourth floor of the apartment.

“This is unbelievable. Shocking. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would ever happen,” said Karen Ruiz, a witness.

When rescuers got inside the home, they found the apartment filled with smoke, and a deceased woman on the kitchen floor.

“They went to move her, it was just based on their experience that it was obvious to the firefighters that she was deceased,” said Steve McDonald, Boston Fire Department.

Inside, rescuers also found a man. They say when they tried to get him out, he refused and turned violent.

“It was a physical altercation. He tried to jump out a window. They restrained him, took the weapon off him, and held him for police,” said Commissioner Ed Davis, Boston Police Department.

“His body, he was trying to get out the window, his body was half out the window, and just in the nick of time the fire department extended the ladders and they saved him,” said Greg Howell, a witness.

Firefighters were able to pull the man back inside and get him out of the burning building. But one witness said it looked like he didn't want to leave.

“They had to tear down the door to bring him out because he refused to leave. So they took him out in handcuffs,” said Ruiz.

The man was taken to the hospital, where he's being treated for smoke inhalation.

Police aren't saying what kind of weapon he had, how the victim died, or what could have started the fire.

Police are not saying whether or not the man rescued and the woman who died knew each other.

Two maintenance workers also rushed in to help. They were taken to the hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.