PENOBSCOT – An early morning fire Saturday destroyed a vacant house in Penobscot.

The call came in at about 4:15 a.m. reporting a fire at the home of Chris Staples on the Western County Road, according to Penobscot Fire Chief Bim Snow. Fortunately, many members of the fire department, and from other area departments, already were at the station for the start of the annual hunters’ breakfast, and were on the scene quickly.

The building was nearly fully engulfed when firefighters arrived on the scene, with flames coming out of windows on the main floor and the attic, Snow said.

“We started to go in, but the floor was all gone,” he said. “We had to do everything from the outside. That made it harder.”

Even so, the fire crews knocked down the fire quickly, but not before most of the home’s interior had been destroyed. Firefighters had plenty of water, drawing from a dry hydrant at the factory brook, Snow said.

Crews were called back to the scene when some hot spots flared up, and some firefighters remained on the scene throughout much of the morning.

Investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office were on the scene Saturday trying to determine what had caused the fire. Staples had been moving out of the building, so most of the furnishings had been removed and the electricity had been shut off.

Snow said it was possible the fire had started in the basement and had been burning for some time before it was discovered. One witness told firefighters that he had driven past the house at about 3:55 a.m. and had not noticed anything unusual. Twenty minutes later, the building was ablaze.

No one was injured in the fire.

Crews from Castine, Blue Hill, Brooksville and Sedgwick responded to the fire call under local mutual aid agreements.