A home at 414 Cass St. in Niles was destroyed Thursday morning by a fire believed to have been started by a damaged extension cord.

The Niles Fire Department received a call at 11:55 p.m. Wednesday that a reportedly vacant house was engulfed in flames. Fire was coming out of the first floor windows by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.

According to Fire Chief Larry Lamb, the home’s occupancy was revoked because it was under renovation. However, one man was living there while he was working on the house. He was not home at the time of the fire.

There was no dry wall or plaster in the first floor of the two-story, older home, which “doesn’t really give us a fighting chance,” Lamb said. Like many older-model homes, the house had balloon construction, which means the walls are built from the basement up to the attic, making it more susceptible to fires.

Lamb said the fire was likely caused by an extension cord that was damaged and had a chair leg on it. He said this case is a “good reminder that extension cords are only designed for temporary use.”

The firefighters left the scene at about 4:30 a.m.

Niles Charter Township Fire Department, Howard Township Fire Department, Southwest Michigan Community Ambulance Service and the Niles Police Department also assisted.