LAKEWOOD, Colo. -- It took firefighters about three hours to battle fire that destroyed a Lakewood home Tuesday night.

The fire at the house on Simms Street and 26th Avenue was so big that firefighters had to call in a second alarm around midnight.

"We came outside and there were just flames covering the house and smoke coming out of the walls and the roof. It's crazy," said neighbor Tyler Finamore.

The two people living in the home made it outside safely.

"We tried to make an aggressive attack. Due to the fire load and heat and the smoke, we had to pull our firefighters out and attack it in a defensive mode," said assistant chief Bob Dowling with Wheat Ridge Fire Department.

Dowling said the fire started in the basement and caused the first floor to collapse. Flames then moved up into the second floor.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.