Woman dead in fatal fire on Lydia Lane SCOTT PILLING staff A look at the damage from a house fire on Lydia Lane that took the life of one woman, 68-year-old Gladys Hopko. Fire in master bedroom left one dead and two officers hospitalized BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer A fire in the master bedroom of a Lydia Lane home in Edison has resulted in the death of one woman and the hospitalization of two Edison officers, according to township police. Gladys Hopko, 68, was found dead in the master bathroom of her home after a fire started in the bedroom, causing damage to the inside of the house, according to Edison police Sgt. Robert Dudash. She was home alone at the time. According to Dudash, at 7:42 in the morning, the Edison police were notified by a passer-by that there were flames and smoke coming from the home at 4 Lydia Lane. Patrolmen Danny Lau and Albert Jackson arrived on the scene and attempted to gain entry. The first attempt was unsuccessful but on second attempt, the officers were able to break the glass on the storm door and force entry into the house via the main entrance. When they entered the house, Dudash said, there was thick smoke coming from the second floor. The officers made attempts to go upstairs but were repelled by the smoke. A third officer, Charles Zundel, also made an attempt, but the smoke was too thick in the residence. The fire department responded moments after the police and were able to extinguish the fire, Dudash said. Upon searching the house, rescuers found Hopko already deceased on the floor of the master bathroom on the second level of the home. Dudash said that the Medical Examiner's Office and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office were contacted, and upon investigation the fire was deemed nonsuspicious and accidental, though the exact cause of the blaze is unknown at this time. Dudash said that the smoke detectors in the house were in working order at the time of the fire. Jackson and Lau were transported to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, treated for smoke inhalation and were released later that morning.