PARIS – Fire tore through a home being constructed on Twitchell Road in Paris on Friday evening. No one was injured.

The blaze was reported by William and Letha Woodworth, who live at 44 Twitchell Road. The fire was back in the woods behind their house atop a small hill. They said they heard a sharp crack, like a rifle shot, before noticing flames coming out from under the eaves. Letha Woodworth said she heard a second crack after seeing the flames.

“It was awful quick,” Woodworth said.

Initial police reports said flames were shooting out of the first floor when units from the Norway, Paris and Oxford fire departments arrived. PACE Ambulance was also dispatched, and a truck from Central Maine Power later arrived to cut electricity to the house.

The fire was quickly doused. No one was in the building at the time of the fire, and no possessions had been moved into the structure. The house was being built for Tim Adams, and a crew was at the house earlier in the day to install Sheetrock.

“The guys made a hell of a stop,” Fire Chief Brad Frost said of Paris firefighters.

He said two holes had been burned through the floor of the single-story residence, which also contains a basement and loft. The flames had reached through the roof near the center of the house, and the interior appeared heavily damaged.

The fire’s cause was not immediately apparent. Troy Ripley, who helped with the exterior work on the house, said the building had electricity for use during the construction. Several firefighters also noted the possibility of a lightning strike during Friday’s thunderstorm.