MILFORD — A fire destroyed the third floor of a beachfront home more than 100 years old in the city's Woodmont section Thursday afternoon, forcing out the woman who grew up there.

She was apparently hoarding items throughout the house, according to Eddie Schpero, a neighbor who had visited the 104 Beach Ave. home several times before the fire.

Capt. Harold Streit agreed. "It's packed pretty tight," the fire department spokesman said Thursday night.

But its hollow wall, balloon frame construction was to blame for the fire's rapid spread, not the clutter, said Lee S. Cooke, an assistant fire chief and the city fire marshal. The second and third floors had severe water damage, he added.

"It took about an hour to bring it under control," he said.

He is investigating the cause of the fire.

The home's only resident, Aricyn Carlson, escaped the 4 p.m. blaze without injury.

Carlson, 53, reached at a Jepson Drive apartment complex where she also lives, said she divided her time between the home and the apartment.

The home is owned by her mother, Anita, Carlson said.

She said Thursday night that she first heard noises upstairs.

"I heard things dropping on the second floor. I went upstairs and there was smoke," she said.

Terrified, she ran out and called 911.

Then, the shocked woman could only stand back as her childhood home burned.

"I sat on the stairs and watched the firemen," she said.

The fire was devastating, she said.

"It was the worst thing that could have happened," Carlson said.

But, she added, she was doing "as well as can be expected" after the fire and planned on rebuilding. The home was insured, she noted.

She can also stay in a smaller building on the property, Carlson added. The property's assessed value, or 70 percent of its market value, was $847,310, according the city Tax Assessor's Office Web site.

But Schpero said the house had deteriorated over the years Carlson lived in it.

Broken windows were covered with plastic and pigeons sometimes flew in and out, he said.

"It looked like a haunted, horror house," he said.

Hoarding can contribute to deterioration, sometime even making homes uninhabitable.

The clutter can also give firefighters problems with access when battling flames in a packed house.

Cooke said firefighters initially fought the fire inside the home, but he pulled them out because the fire was spreading too quickly, not because of the clutter.

Aaron Leo, who covers regional issues, can be reached at 330-6222.