ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester Fire Department is investigating the cause of a fire that ripped through a house on the city’s northwest side Thursday night.

It started around 8 p.m. at a Clay Avenue home. Firefighters at a nearby station at Ridgeway and Dewey Avenue smelled smoke and went looking for the location. When they got there, flames already had engulfed the first and second stories as well as the attic.

The fire took 40 minutes to put out. No one was home at the time but a resident did show up as firefighters battled the fire and had to be restrained.