COLUMBUS, Ind. — A fire destroyed a home in Columbus Monday morning, according to officials with the Columbus Fire Department.

At around 10 a.m. on Monday, fire officials were called to a home off of California Street on a report of a house fire, according to a news release. When officials arrived on the scene, they found “heavy fire” visible from the front of the home. No people were reported inside the home during the incident.

As crews fought the fire, the release said the fire “produced extreme heat conditions inside the home” which made advancement difficult. Officials said even though they were fighting the fire from inside the home, firefighters reported the “flames were so intense that the fire attacked crew’s application of water had little effect on the flames,” and had spread to other rooms and to the attic.

Because of the situation inside the home, officials decided to evacuate the firefighters and attack the fire from the outside to protect neighboring structures. The release said firefighters worked for around four hours to put the fire out.

Officials said the cause of the fire is under investigation. The release said no injuries were reported at the scene and two dogs were secured at the scene, neither of which were injured in the fire. The home is considered a total loss, estimated at $50,000.

The release said this is the first structure fire since the Columbus Fire Department and the Columbus Township Fire Department instituted an automatic aid agreement for working fires within the city and the township. Officials said 22 firefighters responded, along with seven fire apparatus.

“We experienced a very challenging fire today that required a large amount of manpower working for an extended period of time,” Columbus Fire Department Deputy Chief Mark Ziegler said in the release. With the additional manpower and equipment on the scene, we had extra hands capable of completing essential tasks to get the job done as efficiently and safely as possible.”