MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - Investigators say a lightning strike may be to blame for a Medford house fire that broke out overnight.

Firefighters responding to a neighbor who reported the fire on Dover Street just after 1 a.m. initially found light smoke before discovering heavy flames, according to Medford Deputy Fire Chief Brian Cronin.

“It was an extremely tough fight, a lot of hidden fire,” he explained. “It’s an older home with a lot of nooks and crannies and fire was in every one of them.”

The heat from the flames forced crews out of the home and sent one firefighter to the hospital.

Neighbors say no one lives at the home.

Officials are looking into whether the fire was started by a lightning strike.

“As you all know there was a tremendous lightning storm earlier,” Cronin recalled. “The fire on arrival, although it didn’t look bad initially, once the fire started to burn through, we could see it had a tremendous head start on us. Probably at least 2 hours.”

The fire remains under investigation.

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