Fire investigators are digging for answers and trying to figure out why a Colorado Springs home suddenly went up in flames. It happened on Friday night in the Stratton Forest Heights neighborhood near Cheyenne Mountain High School.

The 10,000 square foot house was vacant and under construction. It was just five months away from being complete.

The flames could be seen for miles. Those who live within blocks from where the fire erupted say they're amazed the blaze didn't take out their entire neighborhood.

"There was a little bit of ash that floated over by my house and that made it a little more real," said Jim Flatt who lives in that neighborhood.

The house is located in an urban interface area where there are plenty of trees and brush to burn. Firefighters managed to extinguish it with out letting a major wildfire break out.

Ward Berlin lives just 100 feet from the house that burned down. "In ten minutes the whole house was gone," said Berlin.

He says he and his family left as soon as they could. "There were no explosions, it was just, we just heard everything burning. The fire was closing in on the house," said Berlin.

The inferno left behind heaps of mangled metal and charred brush.

24 families forced to flee their homes were sure of one thing…. "We thought the whole neighborhood was gone," said Berlin.

The fire did try to destroy more. "It was encroaching on other houses," said Lt. CJ Nauert with the Colorado Springs Fire Department.

Firefighters say they are thankful the fire ignited when it did. "If this had been a 2 a.m. type of fire, this would have been a catastrophe," said Lt. Nauert.

The fire broke out at around 6 p.m. Friday night, so there were plenty of people still up and around to report the fire.

The folks in that neighborhood say they are thankful for all the firefighters and want to send out a great big thank you to them for putting the fire out and keeping it from spreading.