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An early morning fire Tuesday gutted a single-family home in Upper Marlboro, causing no injuries but $300,000 in damage.

The origin and cause of the fire are still under investigation, said Mark Brady, a spokesman for the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department.

At approximately 1:45 a.m., neighbors reported smoke and fire coming from the two-story house at 13207 Ailesbury Court. No one was home when the fire began, Brady said. The number and identity of the occupants was not immediately available.

Norbert Klusmann, who lives two houses away on Ailesbury Court, said he woke up shortly before 1:45 a.m. and could see the fire spreading up from the first floor to the rest of the house. He said it took about 10 minutes for the fire to reach the roof. His wife called 911.

"Fastest fire I've seen," Klusmann said.

He added that he could feel the fire's heat from out on the street. Klusmann was familiar with one of the residents but said he did not know much about him or the other occupants, except he believes they were renting the house.

Chris Hunt, who lives one block over on Bressler Way, said he awoke around 2 a.m. to what sounded like transformer explosions coming from the direction of the fire. From his window, he said he could see flames rising above the roof from several hundred feet away.

Hunt and two dozen other residents gathered near the house as firefighters combated the fire.

"At that time, it was already fully engulfed," he said, noting the roof had collapsed and garage door had burnt off by the time he arrived shortly after 2 a.m.

Thirty firefighters from Upper Marlboro and surrounding communities spent nearly an hour and a half battling the fire. Brady said the house was not equipped with sprinklers.

The fire also caused the siding of two neighboring homes to melt before firefighters could contain it.