A fire truck hoses down a burning house Friday on East Savannah Avenue.

VALDOSTA — An abandoned house on East Savannah Avenue was demolished in a blaze Friday morning.

Shortly after 11 a.m., Joe Berrian of Valdosta was passing by the structure when he noticed flames coming from the left side. The flames spread so quickly that the house was engulfed within two to three minutes. Berrian immediately alerted 911 in response to the fire.

Valdosta firefighters and Valdosta police were at the scene within minutes. Valdosta Fire Chief J. D. Rice said the house was fully involved upon their arrival.

While no cause has been determined yet, Rice said that the likelihood of the fire being accidental is slim.

“There was no utility in the house and we were told that vagrants had been seen around the house lately,” Rice said. “It is highly unusual to have a fire this time of day and we will investigate to determine what happened.”

Bystander Angelo Stone, along with others, reported hearing voices in the house around the time the fire began to spread.

The house owner, Rosie Troy, who arrived on the scene about 20 minutes after the fire was reported, said that she had been complaining about trespassers for about a year.

“Since I moved out of the house three years ago, I’ve had to put up keep out signs, for sale signs and no trespassing signs,” Troy said. “But people kept taking them down.”

Troy added that she had been told homeless people were staying in the house. The first time she alerted law enforcement, police went in the house and found that power had been hooked up in the structure. After having the power disconnected, Troy had chain locks placed on the doors.

“Someone broke the chains and, eventually, all my windows had been broken as well,” said Troy, who lived in the house for 36 years before moving to live with family.

By 2 p.m. Friday, the fire was completely extinguished. After two searches by authorities, no one has been reported injured in the blaze.

Because this is the second fire that has occurred within the last two weeks, Chief Rice urges that people remain mindful of safety measures when using heating sources or electric appliances.