Fortunately, nobody was living in this Ferndale home early Wednesday morning

The good news is the house was unoccupied at the time and nobody was hurt. The bad? Someone was planning to return in about a month, according to what a neighbor told Whatcom County Fire District No. 7 Chief Larry Hoffman.

The house north of Ferndale is a complete loss after a fire early Wednesday morning. District 7 was dispatched to 2300 Brown Road at 3:34 a.m., according to Pulse Point records, but there was little they could do but “put a lot of water on it,” Hoffman said.

“Unfortunately, it got a really good start,” Hoffman said. “There was nothing we could really do about it, plus there was a pretty good wind blowing this morning. ... Now it’s just a big hole in the ground.”

Hoffman said his crews were in defensive mode almost from the moment they arrived at the single-story, approximately 1,800-square foot residence.

Crews remained on the scene mopping up as of mid-morning Wednesday, and Hoffman.

The Whatcom County Fire Marshall is investigating, but investigator Mitch Nolze said Wednesday afternoon the cause is undetermined but not suspected to be intentional.

According to a Facebook post by neighbor Meagan McGovern, the owners live in Alaska most of the year.

This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 9:09 AM.