SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — A house fire at 634 East Division Street on Syracuse’s Northside caused smoke that could be seen for miles Wednesday night, Nov. 1, in downtown Syracuse.

Teams of firefighters from the Syracuse Fire Department (SFD) responded to the signal “99” around 5:37 p.m. to fight the fire, which looked like it had started on the second floor of the two-story home.

According to SFD Deputy Chief Dan Downs, firefighters from Station 2 on Lodi Street were working to fight the flames from inside but were slowed down by the boards on all of the doors and windows on the first floor.

“We called everybody out to hit it from the exterior for roughly five minutes to just get that knocked down and went back inside,” said Chief Downs.

Crews confirmed that electricity was already cut to the home before the fire and that it appeared to be vacant, but were unsure as they initially received reports that someone might be inside.

No victims were found during the searches, so crews worked towards the second floor and had to work together inside and outside to stop the fire. After almost an hour, the fire was declared out, and crews remained on the scene for several hours, checking for any hotspots and clearing the building of smoke.

Syracuse Fire Investigators were on the scene and are working to determine the origin and cause of the fire, which is still under investigation.

The building suffered significant fire damage to the second floor, in addition to smoke and water damage throughout.

A total of 38 fire department personnel responded to this incident, including command and support staff. Syracuse Fire Department Ambulance, Syracuse Police, American Medical Response, National Grid and the American Red Cross also responded to the scene.