District No. 1 firefighters raced to tackle a house fire on Swift Road around 7:20 a.m. on November 29 .

According to District No. 1 Fire Chief Brad Ellis, the second floor of the 17 Swift Road home was emitting heavy black smoke. Ultimately, 19 firefighters from all three district extinguished the fire.

"The smoke was so heavy going into the driveway, you could barely see the house," said Ellis, recounting the scene based on what his crew had witnessed.

Ellis said three people were at the location at the time — homeowner JoAnne Caplan, her 20-year-old son Matthew Caplan, and his girlfriend, unidentified. The three, unharmed, met firefighters in the driveway and directed responders toward the second floor.

"A woman called [9-1-1] and said her house was on fire, and then the line went dead," said Ellis.

The first line of responders, from District No. 1, tried to push the fire out of the house, by backtracking through the hallway and into the bedroom where it had originated, said Ellis. As more help arrived, firefighters were able to indirectly tackle the fire from the outside as well, he said.

"That room was just a total, total loss. Heavy charring," said Ellis. "If this had been at a different point when no body was around, it would've been a different amount [of damage]," he added. District No. 1 currently only has one full-time employee and that is the chief himself; responders are comprised of trained volunteers living in District No. 1 who respond when a tone goes out.

While Ellis couldn't identify how much financial damage had been done, he said the firefighters were able to put out the flames within 15 minutes. A three-legged cat was also returned to Caplan during the incident, said Ellis.

Fire District No. 1 and the state fire marshall are currently investigating the cause of the fire.