Investigators are attempting to determine what caused a fire Sunday night that destroyed a house east of Cumming.

Forsyth County Fire Division Chief Jason Shivers said the one-story home on Pine Tree Drive was a total loss, however the family made it out with no injuries. 

“There was a mother, a daughter and a son living at the home, but only the mother and the daughter were at the home at the time of the fire, but everyone made it out alive,” Shivers said.

“There were no interior belongings that we see surviving between the fire and the water damage … very few items, unfortunately.”

Rain delayed the fire investigation Monday, Shivers said, but investigators returned to the scene Tuesday to resume their work.

The blaze was reported about 10:50 p.m. Sunday. It took firefighters about an hour to control the flames.

The response involved about 20 fire personnel from three engine companies, one ladder truck, two tankers and an ambulance.

The home, off Bald Ridge Road by Lake Lanier, was not near a fire hydrant, according to Shivers. That meant crews had to use two of the department’s three 3,000-gallon tanker trucks to douse the fire.

While one truck is in use, the other is traveling to the nearest hydrant to restock the water supply.

“There’s a constant rotation of water. We absolutely never run out of water,” Shivers said. “Our companies are very familiar with their territories that do not have hydrants readily available.”

He added that more than 96 percent of homes and businesses in the county have a hydrant within 500 feet.

Online Editor Jim Dean contributed to this report.