Fire Engulfs Wareham Home, 'Windows Were Cracking And Popping'

WAREHAM (CBS) - A huge fire destroyed a home in Wareham early Thursday morning and after a long search investigators said no one was inside.

Investigators are now trying to determine whether arson was the cause of the blaze.

Flames broke out around 3 a.m. at the house on Restful Lane and quickly engulfed it.

"The fire was everywhere, just shooting. And the house, the windows were cracking and popping and the whole side of the the house was so hot that you can't imagine," neighbor Linda Lukan told reporters.

"It sounded like someone was throwing rocks on the windows," her husband Jeffrey said. "It just turned into a roman candle."

The owner lives in Boston and the house was damaged earlier this month when a tree went through the roof during the most recent nor'easter. "It was abandoned for awhile, since that last storm we had," Jeffrey Lukan said.

The Lukans told reporters the home owner, who has not been identified, was not there at the time of the fire, but his late wife's ashes were inside.

Wareham Fire Chief Patrick Haskell said investigators were able to go through the building and found nobody inside.

Firefighters initially said there was one person unaccounted for after the fire, but several hours later, after a thorough search through the debris, Haskell told reporters that no one was inside and no one was missing.  The owner was located at a hospital in Boston.

The home was demolished.  There's no word yet on how or where the fire started.