A home located one mile west Vita burnt to the ground Wednesday afternoon.

Stuartburn Fire Chief Bob Fosty says his crews were called to the scene on Road 39 East at 3 PM.

“When we arrived, the house was fully involved and had probably been burning for quite a while already. There were no residents home at the time."

Fosty says his crews spent four hours extinguishing the blaze and, by the time they had finished, much of the building had collapsed in on itself. “There were a couple of walls left standing,” he says, “but that’s about it.”

At this point, Fosty says it is too early to determine the total damage estimate, however, he does have some insight into the cause.

“It was a little tough to determine,” he admits, “but as far as the source goes, we think it started in the basement utility room and was related to an appliance, perhaps a washer or a sewer pump."

Fosty says the home was, quite obviously, a total loss.

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