An early morning blaze claimed a home on North Whidbey today.

According to Marv Koorn, chief of North Whidbey Fire and Rescue, firefighters responded to a report of a house on fire on Crosby Road, between the intersections of Golf Course Road and NW Heller Street, at about 4:20 a.m.

They arrived on scene to find flames shooting through the roof of the single-story structure. The building was occupied by two men and both got out safely.

“The one woke up to what he thought was rain on the roof,” Koorn said. “It was a fire in the attic.”

North Whidbey firefighters, with the assistance of the Oak Harbor Fire Department, got the blaze under control in about 30 minutes. Much of the roof was destroyed, but the fire didn’t burn below the ceiling-line.

As a result, the building’s contents were largely spared from the flames, he said.

“Except for some water damage, we managed to save most of the contents,” Koorn said.

According to Koorn, the cause of the fire is still under investigation but experts are close to making a determination. There are presently no indications of arson, he said.

Although the structure’s contents were largely salvaged, damage to the roof was so extensive that Koorn said the building was a total loss.