PITTSFIELD – Smoke obscured much of downtown Pittsfield on Tuesday night as a family home on Noble Street was destroyed by fire.

Don Rice said his family had left the home to pick him up from work when the fire was reported about 7 p.m. Although Rice did not know what caused the fire, the entire back section of the home was destroyed and the rest of the rambling, two-story wooden building was heavily damaged. It was the last home on a dead-end street.

Police initially thought a 13-year-old was inside and firefighters began a room-by-room search but the boy was found at a neighbor’s. Firefighters then thought what they heard was a second child screaming, but it turned out to be the family cat, Panther. The cat was rescued.

Firefighters fought the blaze well into the night, with assistance from Hartland, St. Albans, Newport and Detroit. Hartland Avenue, which Noble Street bisects, was closed for hours.

An investigation into the cause of the blaze will be launched this morning.

One firefighter was taken to Sebasticook Valley Hospital after injuring his knee fighting the fire.