LEWISTON – An 11-year-old boy fled his Highland Avenue home Wednesday afternoon as the back of the house went up in flames.

No one was hurt in the 4 p.m. blaze, but wind-battered flames gutted Walter and Patricia Sturgis’ house at the dead-end section of the avenue.

The boy who escaped the burning house was watching television when the fire started, neighbors said. He went to search for his cat and found that a section of the house was ablaze.

“The kid ran outside, yelling, ‘Call 911, my house is on fire,'” said 14-year-old Will Desmarais, who lives two houses down from the one that burned. “There was just smoke coming up, but by the time we called for help, the fire really got going.”

The Sturgises lived in the cape with their son and daughter. Neighbors said the family had been living there for about 10 years. The cause of the fire remained under investigation late Wednesday night.

As firefighters responded, thick gray smoke was blowing across the area, drawing onlookers from as far away as Lisbon Street.

Police blocked off several intersections along Webber Avenue, which intersects Highland, as more crews responded.

In the back of a pickup truck, fire Investigator Paul Ouellette consoled the boy who had fled the house. Crowds gathered on side streets and nearby lawns to watch the firefighters battle the blaze.

“I saw this cloud roll right through, so I ran down here,” said Justin St. Cyr, who lives a short distance from the house that burned. “When I got here, flames were coming right out of the roof.”

Firefighters blasted the fire from the ground and from a ladder above the house, but persistent flames continued to burn through the upper section of the single-family home.

By the time the fire was knocked down, the roof had been burned away and the remainder of the house was damaged by heat, fire, smoke and water. A garage and part of a deck survived, but the house was considered a loss.

Fire investigator Pete Morrell was looking into the cause of the fire later Wednesday night. He said the origin appeared to be in the area of a basement door beneath the porch, though the cause was not yet known.

Fire crews remained at the scene after dark. Down the road, neighbors commended the boy who fled the burning house for reporting the fire immediately.

“He knew there was nothing he could do,” Bill Demarais said. “He got out of there and called for help. He did the right thing.”