LEWISTON — Five people, including three children, escaped a burning home on College Street on Thursday afternoon.

Fire crews were called to 87 College St. about 4:30 p.m. for a report of flames at the front of the home. When firefighters first arrived, they found flames and heavy smoke on the first floor of the three-story home.

The porch was in flames and officials said fire had burned into the first and possibly the second floor.

The cause of the blaze remained unknown later Thursday. After knocking down the bulk of flames, firefighters remained at the scene an hour after the blaze was reported.

It was expected they would remain there into the early evening as hot spots were snuffed out and an investigation got underway.

Fire Chief Mark Caron said the building is owned by a women’s free health clinic with a family of five living inside. No one was injured fleeing the building.

Caron said the home sustained fire and smoke damage throughout and the family will not be able to return there.

The building is a short distance from the intersection of College and Sabattus streets.

While fire crews battled the blaze, police shut down a short section of College Street near the intersection. Auburn firefighters came to the city to fill in at Lewiston’s Central Fire Station.

The women’s clinic is just a couple blocks from an apartment house at College and Davis streets that was heavily damaged by fire Monday night. That blaze displaced nine families.