ST. ALBANS – Firefighters from St. Albans, Hartland, Newport and Corinna were called Tuesday afternoon to a home on Nokomis Road that was in flames.

The two-story home had been burning heavily, firefighters said, and fire had erupted from the windows and rear roof by the time fire crews arrived. Neither neighbors nor firefighters knew the name of the homeowner.

Tony Adams of Hartland was returning from a woodlot when he spotted the fire. “The flames were shooting out the windows,” he said. “The back door was locked but the front door wasn’t. I opened it and yelled and yelled but no one answered. I could see the flames creeping down the stairs, step by step.”

Adams discovered that a car near the home had the keys in the ignition and he backed it out of the way of the firefighters. It was the discovery of the keys in the car and a camera sitting on the front seat that had firefighters initially concerned that someone might be in the home. Neighbors also told firefighters that two Irish setters lived in the home.

“No one’s in there,” Assistant Chief Jason Emery of the St. Albans Fire Department said after a room by room search. No dogs were found either.

St. Albans Fire Chief David Crocker said he knew it was going to be a house fire the minute he heard the tones go off on his pager.

“I was standing in the Dexter lumber yard,” he said. “It’s the third call in three days. The third time is always a structure fire.”

Earlier this week, St. Albans was called to a permit burn that got out of control and a chimney fire. “But this one was the bad one,” Crocker said, observing the damage Tuesday afternoon.

Crocker said it was too soon to determine a cause for the fire and that a State Fire Marshal’s Office investigator had been called to the scene.