Gwinnett Daily Post

Staff Photo: John Bohn Gwinnett County firefighters work to extinguish a fire in a home at 6050 Ambercrest Court in Buford Tuesday afternoon.

BUFORD -- A Tuesday afternoon fire ravaged a Buford home and displaced its residents, but things could have been far more devastating.

Initial reports to Gwinnett County firefighters held that two children were believed to be inside the two-story home on the 6000 block of Ambercrest Court, spokesman Lt. Eric Eberly said. When crews arrived at about 2:45 p.m., they encountered a "large volume of fire" coming from the garage and roof of the residence and began to enter the home in an attempt to rescue the children they believed to be inside.

Shortly thereafter, however, "the homeowner arrived and informed the incident commander that no one was home," Eberly said.

Crews backed out of the home and battled the blaze -- believed to have originated from a vehicle fire in the garage -- from outside, bringing it under control within about 50 minutes. They were also able to re-enter the home and save a small family dog that was in "extreme distress" and had temporary smoke blindness, Eberly said.

The dog was taken to a local veterinary hospital and "presumed OK."

The home was declared a total loss, Eberly said, and the Red Cross was contacted to assist the displaced family of four. No injuries were reported.

"The firefighters' efforts kept the blaze from spreading to other nearby homes," Eberly said.