Fire has destroyed a two-storey home in Dartmouth, N.S.

Neighbours spotted smoke coming from the back of the home on Maplewood Drive before 10 a.m. Thursday.

“We seen smoke coming out of the back of the house. We went to check to make sure it wasn’t a BBQ, and then realized it was a fire, and then I called it in,” says Ruby Janes.

She says some neighbours banged on the door of the home to alert its residents to the fire.

“The boys were in the house, so they started knocking on the door to get them out and wake them up because they were still sleeping,” says Janes. “They got out of the house. By that point, the back of the house was engulfed.”

Three people managed to escape the blaze without injury.

“The only thing I remember is waking up and somebody grabbing me out of bed and running outside,” says Zack Adams.

Dave Meldrum, divisional chief of Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency, says 24 firefighters battled the blaze, which spread quickly.

“On arrival, our firefighters encountered heavy fire in the back of the building and inside the building,” says Meldrum. “When it got to the attic, it moved very quickly.”

There was no damage to any neighbouring homes.

Meldrum says the cause of the fire is unknown, but it doesn’t appear to be suspicious.

Fire investigators are working to determine a cause.