ARGYLE – Firefighters contained an early morning fire to two rooms at an Edinburg Road home, but the damage was so extensive that the family of six will be staying elsewhere for the time being.

Alton’s Assistant Fire Chief James Feero said it could be a couple of days before the Bickmore family can return to their home after flames heavily damaged a bedroom and bathroom inside the ranch house.

The fire got into the walls and was difficult to reach and extinguish, said Feero. Firefighters were first called to the home about 9:20 a.m. They opened up part of the back wall to fight the fire, finally extinguishing it at 11:45 a.m.

The Pine Tree Chapter of the American Red Cross is housing the family until they can return, the assistant fire chief said.

It wasn’t immediately known what caused the fire, although Feero said it was not being considered suspicious. He said one of the four children who lived there had gone to the cellar to do laundry and noticed the flames in the ceiling above her.

Firefighters from Old Town and LaGrange assisted Alton firefighters on the scene while Hudson firefighters were called in to cover the Alton fire station.