WHITEWATER TWP. — Firefighters are investigating the cause of a fire Monday that destroyed a single-family home near Hamilton County's western edge.

        The blaze is not considered suspicious, Whitewater Township Fire Chief Bill Darby said.

        No one was home when the fire broke out at about 1:30 a.m. The house, in the 7400 block of Buena Vista Drive, is owned by Steve and Julie Borden, the chief said. Five dogs made it out safely.

        A dollar amount on the damage has not been determined, Chief Darby said.

        “The homeowner had come home and found the fire,” the chief said. “We can't rule out anything until we get in and find a cause.”

        Rebecca Yost, who lives two doors away in the rural residential community, said the house was little more than a shell when she saw it later Monday morning.

        “It's pretty far gone. It looked gutted to me,” she said. “(Firefighters) spent the entire night trying to fight that.”

        Fire crews arrived to find one side of the building engulfed in flames. Because there are no hydrants in the area, they had to use tanker trucks to carry water from a hydrant about a mile away, the chief said.

        Firefighters were on the scene for 12 hours.

        Tankers from Harrison, Bright, Ind., and Crosby and Miami townships were called to the scene, the chief said.

        Fire crews from Cleves and Colerain Township aided Whitewater firefighters.

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