Firefighters from 10 companies were called Friday evening to battle a blaze that destroyed this home on Hepler Road in Buffalo Township. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

BUFFALO TWP — Officials don’t yet know what sparked a blaze Friday evening that destroyed a family’s home at 198 Hepler Road.

No one was injured, but the large two-story house near the intersection with Fleming Road was reduced to skeletal remains.

The first call to 911 came in just before 6:30 p.m. Firefighters said when they arrived, the home already was fully engulfed in flames and the valley was filled with thick black smoke.

Tyler Hill, a lieutenant with the Sarver Volunteer Fire Company, said neighbors rescued the family’s two dogs before the fire department’s arrival. The family wasn’t home when the fire started.

More than a half dozen fire departments, including some from Allegheny County, were there to help.

Although there was a fire hydrant in a garden, it was a nonfunctioning decoration and water had to be brought in by tanker trucks. Firefighters stayed at the house for more than five hours, eventually switching to foam and ladder trucks to douse the blaze.

Hill said it was not immediately known how the fire started. Because of that, a state fire marshal is being asked to investigate. However, Hill said there was no reason to suspect the fire was suspicious.

Butler County property records identify the homeowners as Frank A. and Daralee Powell. But fire officials did not confirm the names at the family’s request.

Even before the fire was out, the family was meeting with officials from the American Red Cross at a makeshift table in the yard.

Hill could not provide an estimate on the damage, but said the structure and contents were destroyed.

Neighbors who gathered in front of the house described the neighborhood as close knit. They said the family had bought the home within the past decade, but they previously lived nearby and the wife grew up locally.

“When one of us hurts, we all hurt,” said one woman who refused to give her name.

According to Butler County 911 records, these fire departments were involved in the effort: Sarver, Buffalo, Saxonburg, Harrison Hills, Herman, Fawn, Freeport, Winfield, Hilltop Hose and South Buffalo.