No one was home this morning when a fire started in a two-story rental home four miles south of Lawrence.

Wakarusa Township firefighters received the call at 9:37 a.m. for the home in the 900 section of E. 1500 Road, on the George Dairy and Farm.

“We found nobody. We had reports early on that nobody was in the house, confirmed by telephone and our own search,” said John Mathis, assistant fire chief for Wakarusa Township.

Mathis said the fire started near ground level and the heat may have broken windows on the second story.

Firefighters from several departments in the county – as far away as Lecompton Township – responded to fight the blaze.

Mathis said first-response, volunteer units call for help early.

Because fewer volunteers are available during the day for the township fire departments, they needed the extra bodies to fight the fire in waves, he said.

Firefighters from Eudora city and township, Palmyra, Kanwaka, Willow Springs, Baldwin, Lecompton and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical responded.

No cause or damage amount was available this morning as the investigation continues, Mathis said. Significant smoke and burn damage was visible from outside the home.