CARNATION, Wash. -- A space heater may have started the fire that destroyed a home near Carnation, leaving only a charred house frame.

Flames erupted in the home on the shore of Lake Joy about 15 miles east of Redmond and four miles from downtown Carnation Thursday morning.

Neighbors said they woke up to the glow of the fire and were worried that the homeowner, Mary Wilhelm, was trapped inside.

"It was already burned so bad, I knew that if anybody was in there, they weren't alive," said neighbor Butch Gibson.

Unable to sleep, Wilhelm had gone to a nearby grocery store for some tea. Friends called her cell phone to tell her the news.

“I got a phone call that the house was on fire," Wilhelm said.

Within an hour, her house had burned to the ground.

Since she lived in a remote community, it took Eastside firefighters more than 15 minutes to get to her home. Once there, firefighters had to string their fire hoses down a long driveway to reach a fire hydrant. When they finally got set up to put water on the fire, it was out of control.

Chopper 7 was over the burning house, which was at least 3,000 square feet, said KIRO 7 pilot and reporter Clark Stahl.

SLIDESHOW: House Reduced To Blackened Skeleton
RAW VIDEO: Burning Home In Carnation

At the height of the fire, eyewitnesses said flames were shooting 50 feet into the air -- nearby trees started to catch fire.

"At that point, I'm thinking about my place. So we went back up to the house and started gathering up our valuables," Gibson said.

"I think I would have been more devastated had the fire spread to their homes," Wilhelm said.

No injuries were reported.

"Everything's gone, but no one's hurt," Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm's two cats may have died in the fire.

The homeowner told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News that she might have left a space heater on when she made a trip to the store.

Fire investigators said it could be days before they know exactly what caused the fire.