NORTHWEST FORSYTH – Firefighers responding to a call for a brush fire with "thirty foot high flames" instead found a two story house engulfed in flames from one end to the other and the nearby woods on fire, according to Division Chief Jason Shivers.  

Shivers said that no one was home at the time of the fire, which was called in by a neighbor.  "They could see flames, so they knew to call," he explained.  "Once we got on scene, our firefighters saw they had not only a structure on fire, but a woods fire as well."  

The house, which Shivers said he understood to be home to six people, was completely destroyed.  "No one was home, so no one was injured, but we do know there are pets that are missing," he said.  

Shivers credited fast work by both the fire department and a Georgia Forestry crew as being what kept this fire from turning into a major blaze, something that he and other fire officals have been concerned about.  "With the dry conditions, and very low humidity, we know that it's possible that we could have an extensive fire here at any time."  

Because the house was located down a very long private road, Shivers said that firefighters used tanker trucks to shuttle water to the fire.  

The cause of the fire is under investigation.  

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