Firefighters Battle Major House Fire In Homewood North

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HOMEWOOD NORTH (KDKA) – Firefighters battled a major house fire in Pittsburgh's Homewood North neighborhood.

The fire broke out at a vacant home in the 1000 block of Lawndale Street around 5:45 a.m.

"It was reported vacant and when the companies arrived on scene, there was so much volume of fire that it was an exterior attack only from the get-go. There was just too much fire when they arrived on the scene," Battalion Chief John Walsh said.

A neighbor said she heard something crackling outside and peeked out her window. That's when she saw flames.

Hours after the fire started, firefighters were still dousing hotspots.

Several fire companies on scene of house fire in Homewood North. Big flames are out, home still smoking though. @CBSPittsburgh pic.twitter.com/FpKoB9HEnW

— Meghan Schiller (@MeghanKDKA) November 16, 2017

"Throughout the course of the day, here on the day shift, we're going to try to finish extinguishing the building. It's too dangerous to put anybody inside, so those operations will take place from the outside," Walsh said.

Firefighters say the conditions were difficult considering the home is perched high on a hill with very narrow streets. However, they say they didn't have any issues when fighting the fire.

The family that lived in the home reportedly moved out nearly two weeks ago.

Investigators walked the property and took pictures of the scene hoping that some clues will tell them why an empty house on a private street would erupt in flames

There are no reported injuries.