A three-story Hayden Lake home was destroyed in a fire Friday evening. 

There were no injuries. 

Chris Larson, deputy fire marshal with the Northern Lakes Fire District, said the home was undergoing repairs and there was scaffolding on the front of Waverly Loop home off English Point Road.

He said there were reports of an explosion shortly before the fire started about 5:15 p.m. When firefighters soon arrived, the home was engulfed in flames. 

An hour later, they had it under control. But all that remained of the home described as beautiful by neighbors was the foundation and framing. 

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. 

Firefighters from multiple agencies attacked the blaze, spraying water on the home from a boat unit on Hayden Lake and from Waverly Loop. 

The fire spread to brush on the hillside above and behind the home, but aerial water drops from a helicopter helped knock it out in about 90 minutes, leaving the terrain charred and smoking.

"They were able to keep that contained to about three quarters of an acre," Larson said. 

Firefighters kept the blaze from spreading to nearby homes, watering down one.

Larson said no one was home when the fire started. The owner of the property lives in King County in western Washington. 

"It sounds like no one was living in it at the time," he said. 

One neighbor told Larson he saw white smoke coming from the property, thought someone might be smoking fish, and went to check it out. As he got closer, the white smoke turned black and fire grew. 

Two neighbors said they saw initial flames on the outside of the home where exterior work was being done. 

Numerous families in the area had to wait for the OK from firefighters before they could return to their homes.

Neighbors John Giesen and Helen Talkington were boating to the Hayden Lake Country Club for dinner about 5 p.m. and passed by the home. It looked fine. 

"We were admiring the scaffolding," Talkington said. "It was just amazing." 

But about 25 minutes later, they saw smoke rising from the area and left the club early to be sure their home was safe. 

"We were very concerned, seeing the flames," Talkington said.  

Firefighters were snuffing out hot spots and still spraying water on what was left of the home about 8:30 p.m.

Larson said the type of fire behavior he has seen lately, with wildfire and structure fires in Spokane, Shoshone County and Lewiston, and the dry conditions due to drought, is concerning. 

"We're having mid-July type fire activity and it's not even Father's Day," he said. 

    A firefighter sprays down the hillside above Waverly Loop where a Hayden Lake home was destroyed in a fire on Friday.
  

    Firefighters on Waverly Loop discuss next steps after a Hayden Lake home was lost in a fire on Friday.
  

    Smoke rises from a brush fire above Waverly Loop in Hayden Lake on Friday.