Volunteer firefighters from a number of communities were on scene at an early morning fire in Pense Friday morning.

John Davis is a resident of Pense and was the first on the scene.

"I was heading to work it was about 4:30 this morning. I smelled smoke in the air and I saw some fire coming out of a house so I pulled over. I saw the owner standing there obviously in shock. I asked if someone called the fire department and he said 'my phone is in my house', so I called the FD. A friend of mine showed up and we started evacuating houses because it escalated very quickly."

By the time crews arrived, one of the houses had been completely engulfed.

While the fire has been extinguished, a second property was subsequently lost in the blaze as well.