Dana Tracy, Rural Fire Protection District No. 1 fire chief, said the volunteer firefighters received the fire call at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday and when they arrived the house, on County Line Road outside of Gore, was fully engulfed in flames.
"The flames were 10 to 15 feet above the roof," Tracy reported Friday morning.
Tracy said the house belongs to Waldo Tyner of Cleveland, but Tyner does not live in the home. "It has been empty for about three years," Tracy said. "It has utilities but they were not hooked up."
Tracy added that the house was not insured.
"This fire is under investigation for suspicious origin because there were no utilities and no insurance," Tracy said.
Tracy said firefighters were on the scene until about 11:15 p.m. but were unable to save the house.
"At one point we had to get the firemen out of the open because of the lightning," Tracy said, explaining a severe lightning storm arrived shortly after the firefighters.
Tracy said 17 firemen responded to the call, with four pumper trucks and the fire district's new fast attack rig.
He added that 75 hay rolls, or large hay bales, and two old barns were threatened by the fire but were saved. Webbers Falls volunteer firemen assisted with fighting the fire, Tracy said.
