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The fire broke out shortly after 5 p.m. on Continental Drive off Umstead Road.
"I had rolled into the driveway, parked and as I did I saw a glow," said Pete Duty, who called 911. "I said, that ain't right. I could see the red in the window right there. I was going to go into my truck to get a fire extinguisher and I looked at the way it was going and I said, no way."
The Durham Fire Marshal's Office is investigating what happened that caused the home to go up in flames.
The home is in an area that's partially in Durham County and partially in the city so a variety of agencies responded including the Durham Fire Department and the Lebanon Fire Department.
Firefighters said the family was not home at the time.