South King Fire and Rescue officials believe a 73-year-old woman — who is well-known in Federal Way for often waving political signs in front of Winco Foods — died in a house fire Thursday afternoon.

“She’s a local celebrity, if you’ve seen the lady in the wheelchair who waves signs for political campaigns,” said Capt. Jeff Bellinghausen with South King Fire of the woman who owns the older two-story home in the 28800 block of 19th Ave. S. He emphasized that the victim has not been identified yet.

South King Fire received the initial call at 3:15 p.m. and a total of 24 people, including 18 firefighters, battled the fully-involved house fire.

“Crews pulled in and there was fire literally coming out of every window and door until we got here,” Bellinghausen said. “They couldn’t go inside. The house you can see is covered with a lot of trees, so it was probably burning for quite awhile before anyone noticed it.”

He said crews couldn’t get inside the home because of the flames.

“Once we did get some flames knocked down and tried to make entry, the house has a lot of debris inside that made it very difficult,” he said. “We heard right away that there might be someone inside, so we made every effort we could but we just couldn’t get inside. And it had burned for quite awhile before we got there.”

Firefighters looked into the home from the windows outside and found the body.

“That all has to be investigated who it is,” Bellinghausen said. “The owner is a disabled elderly woman. We’re really trying to find the next of kin of the person who lives here. If it is the person who lives here, she has a daughter who lives in California, that’s the best we can do. We really tried every resource.”

He said investigators spoke with neighbors, who said the woman usually takes the Access bus to get around town. Fire officials called Access to find out when the bus picked her up last and she was dropped off at one of her usual spots — WinCo Foods — at 7 a.m. Friday, Bellinghausen said.

“We traced that back and found out why and it was about that time that we were able to get inside and find the person there that we believe is probably the owner of the house,” he said.

He said there was so much smoldering debris in the house that they’ll have to clear everything out piece by piece, which could take “hours and hours. I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t leave a crew here for the night.”

No firefighters were injured.

“We don’t see fatality fires very often,” he added. “It’s really a sad day for that. We’re just sad for the family and the political community. She was a very popular lady.”

Editor Carrie Rodriguez contributed to this report. Slideshow photos by Terrence Hill, the Mirror.