Early morning blaze totals house near Wapakoneta on Thursday

WAPAKONETA - Investigators are sifting through the charred remains of an Auglaize County house that went up in flames early Thursday north of Wapakoneta.

Wapakoneta Fire Capt. Alan McClintock said firefighters were called to 17740 Wapakoneta-Cridersville Road shortly after 5 a.m.

"Upon arrival we found this two-story structure fully involved in the residential part of the structure," McClintock said. "Before we arrived, we had confirmation from dispatch that we had a fully involved structure fire."

McClintock said firefighters also knew as they were responding to the blaze that the home was vacant. Firefighters were able to focus their efforts on getting the fire under control, he said. No firefighters were injured.

Firefighters from Wapakoneta, Cridersville, Uniopolis and Buckland were all called to assist with the blaze. They were still on scene five hours later putting out hot spots and searching for the cause of the fire. The state fire marshal's office was also called to assist in the investigation, McClintock said.

"Really the fire is still under investigation at this time," he said. "The residence part of the structure is a total loss."

McClintock estimated the blaze caused $175,000 in damage to the structure.

Investigators were unsure Thursday where the blaze started as well as what caused the fire.

"At this point it's still under investigation," McClintock said. "Until we get in there and determine origin and cause we can't determine that. At this point it's still considered accidental."