A Reisterstown woman is dead after a two-alarm fire gutted part of her home early Wednesday morning.

Karen Diener, 59, died Wednesday morning at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, according to a statement released by Baltimore County Police late Thursday afternoon.

“It’s the kind of thing you never really see coming,” said Lee Hallett, a neighbor and childhood friend of Alex Diener, Karen’s son.

Fire fighters were called to Diener’s home at 20 Blake Court at 1 a.m. Wednesday and found heavy fire on the first and second floors. Diener had suffered burns to 50 percent of her body and was taken to Northwest Hospital. She was later transferred to Johns Hopkins Bayview, where she was pronounced dead later that morning.

The two-alarm fire was placed under control at 2:23 a.m. by a total of about 15 fire companies and 60 personnel. The cause is under investigation, the release said.

Hallett has fond memories of spending time as child with Diener, who he said was nothing but nice.

“Back in the day, she was like a second mother to me,” he said. “I used to go places with them all the time.”