SUGAR GROVE, Pa. — Fire destroyed a home in Sugar Grove Township during a severe thunderstorm early Monday morning.

“We were dispatched around 2 a.m.,” Sugar Grove Volunteer Fire Department Second Assistant Chief Justin Darr said. “When I arrived on scene at 2:14, the house was fully engulfed and on the ground.”

For a while, responders were concerned there might be someone inside the burning structure at 266 Swede Hollow Road. There was a vehicle — which also burned — in the driveway, Darr said. They called the residents, who were on vacation, and discovered that no one was home.

With that discovery, the responding departments — Sugar Grove, Youngsville, Lander, North Warren, and Bear Lake — could focus on putting the fire out.

There was a hot-spot. A neighbor called early Wednesday morning to report that there was fire at the location again.

“We went back for a rekindle about 12:40 this morning,” Darr said.

A Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal investigated the scene on Monday, Darr said. There had been no official determination of a cause as of Wednesday morning, but Darr said it was looking like a lightning strike.

The storm that apparently caused the fire caused some additional challenges for the responders.

“The challenge we had was dodging downed trees trying to get to it,” Darr said.