Members of the Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department battle a major house fire on Lake Shore Drive on the shore of Raquette Pond early on Tuesday morning. The house, a short-term vacation rental, was a total loss. (Provided photo — Jim Lanthier)

TUPPER LAKE — A fire destroyed a vacation home on the shore of Raquette Pond early Tuesday morning.

Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department Chief Royce Cole said there was no one at the house at 5 Lake Shore Dr. when the fire started before 1 a.m., and there were no injuries.

The house was a second home owned by Michael Nelson of Saratoga Springs, which he rented as a short-term vacation rental. He said he’s glad his family is safe and expressed his deep thankfulness to neighbors and the fire department for reporting and containing the fire.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the Franklin County Cause and Origin team.

Thirty-mile-per-hour wind gusts off the pond fueled the fire with oxygen, and by the time firefighters arrived, the structure was fully involved in flames.

“It had a good jump on us before we got there,” Cole said. “With the wind conditions, it just pushed it along that much quicker.”

Firefighters switched to defensive actions and kept neighboring houses from igniting. He said the wind and whiteout conditions made it a challenging firefight.

The house is completely gone, Cole said, adding that just the chimney is standing now.

“Pretty devastating,” Cole said.

Nelson said his neighbor woke up in the middle of the night and saw that her window pointing towards his home was glowing orange. Their houses are around 10 feet away from each other, but the wind was blowing in right direction to not spread to the other house.

“We’re lucky. We don’t need anything at this time,” Nelson said.

With all the fires in California currently, Nelson’s insurance company told him they likely won’t get to his claim for at least a year.

“We have, over the last few years, fallen in love with Tupper Lake,” Nelson said. “Our ultimate goal is to rebuild.”

TLVFD responded at 12:57 a.m. with four trucks. Members of the Paul Smiths-Gabriels Volunteer Fire Department provided mutual aid at the scene. Members of the Piercefield Volunteer Fire Department stood by at the TLVFD firehouse.