The Troup County Fire Department spent about six hours fighting a house fire on the 200 block of East Mount Zion ChurchRoad Thursday afternoon.

The fire was called in around 3:45 p.m. and was extinguished by 9:45 p.m., according to Troup Fire Deputy Chief Fire J. Kevin Norred.

“That fire was pretty advance d upon our arrival. It took us awhile to get it to cool down and get everything out,” Norred said.

“We were out there quite a while making sure everything is out.”

The fire was called in by neighbor Sharunda Ford, who said nobody was at home when the fire occurred.

A pet dog was in the house when the fire started, but Ford said her family found him on the porch. He was uninjured.

“When we came over, [my son] kicked the door open, and we saw smoke coming (out of the house),” Ford said.

Ford then called 911 and Troup County Fire was sent with EMS. Ford said she also called the homeowner, who was at work.

Many in the neighborhood gathered around Thursday afternoon in support of the homeowner, who watched as firefighters worked to put out the flames. Firefighters broke a hole into her garage to put the fire out there, while also working their way into the house.

The damage appeared to be extensive.

Norred said the fire was possibly burning for a long time before it was called in by Ford.

“When [Ford] called the fire in, flames were coming from the roof,” he said. “The fire had already had a head start on us when we were dispatched.”

The cause of the fire was unknown. Norred said Friday morning that it was possibly a kitchen fire.

The Troup County Fire Department, the Troup County Sheriff’s Office, AMR and Emergency Medical Services responded.

According to Norred, the home was insured and the homeowner is being taken care of by the Red Cross.