Jorge Valencia | The Roanoke Times

Dozens of firefighters responded to a fire in Bonsack on Sunday, and one was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

BONSACK -- For hours on Sunday, dozens of firefighters climbed ladders and doused a Bonsack farmhouse with water in an effort to extinguish flames that left the home a total loss.

None of the five occupants -- a father, his two daughters and their two dogs, according to neighbor Charles Wimmer -- was hurt.

However, a volunteer firefighter was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to a news release from the Roanoke County Fire and Rescue Department.

Firefighters were dispatched about 4:30 p.m. to a house about half a mile from Bonsack Road on Glade Creek Road, the release said.

The residents of the house said they did not want to talk about the fire, but according to several onlookers, one of the residents and the dogs exited safely after smoke started coming from the attic windows of the two-story house. The news release said the structure is about 3,500 square feet and is 100 years old.

Crews initially tried to fight the fire from inside, but "had to retreat because it was too dangerous," the release said.

After a firefighter was taken away in an ambulance, firefighters took up positions outside and directed water through the windows. After several hours, when flames were no longer visible, crew members went up ladders to the second floor and attic to inspect the house.

The crews pumped water through two lines from nearby Glade Creek because there are no fire hydrants in that area.

Fire hoses were laid over the railroad tracks, and although Norfolk Southern shut down traffic in that area, no scheduled trains were interrupted, NS spokeswoman Susan Terpay said.

Firefighters were still at the house late Sunday night, and the Roanoke County fire marshal had not determined the cause of the fire.