Ralph and Susan Bost weren’t prepared for the sight that greeted them when they returned to their Lawrence home early Sunday.

Instead of their quiet, dark, two-story house at 1204 Conn., the Bosts found several fire trucks, flashing red lights and about 30 firefighters battling flames and smoke.

“We wondered what was going on, and then as we got closer, I said, ‘That’s our house,'” Susan Bost recalled.

Today the Bosts are working with insurance agents and trying to determine how much they lost in the fire. Investigators with Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical still are investigating the cause of the blaze that was reported shortly before 4 a.m.

The first firefighters on the scene reported heavy smoke coming from inside the house. Firefighters, who brought the two-alarm fire under control at 6 a.m., described the damage as heavy, but didn’t release a dollar estimate Sunday.

“They said they had a hard time putting it out,” Susan Bost said of firefighters’ efforts.

The Bosts say they were blessed that they weren’t at home when the fire broke out. They were receiving temporary assistance from the Douglas County chapter of the American Red Cross and staying at a hotel Sunday night.

“Everybody’s been real good to us,” Susan Bost said. “We just have to take things one step at a time. We’ve never been through this before, thank goodness.”

Kelly and Joelle Bradford live next door to the Bosts and were awakened by a neighbor after the fire broke out. They said their neighbors’ house was covered in smoke and they didn’t see flames until firefighters opened it up.

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The Bradfords’ house is only a few yards from the Bosts’, but they didn’t think their own house sustained any damage.

“Thankfully they got it out in a hurry,” Kelly Bost said.