Northville, Livonia and Plymouth fire fighters responded to a blaze that destroyed a home in the Woodlands of Northville subdivision behind Northville High School Saturday night.

Firefighters worked in temperatures hovering just over 20 degrees, responding to a neighbor's call that smoke and flames were coming out of the house at about 11:20 p.m. Police blocked traffic on White Pine Circle, about a block from the fire, which ruined a house at the corner of Oak Hill Drive and Oak Hill Court.

The family living in the house was out of town in Northern Michigan and were immediately notified, township Public Safety Director John Werth said. No firefighters were injured.

The house was still standing but there were parts still on fire at 1 a.m. Firefighters hosed flames on the roof of the house from a ladder.

Township public safety director John Werth said that there was significant smoke damage throughout the rest of the house. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. But it appears, he said, that it started in a back corner of the multilevel 5000-square-feet house.

"It was mainly contained to the back," he said.

Several subdivision residents came out into the bitter cold to watch from a nearby corner.

Neighbor Jon Beydon, 16, slipped out of his house to watch the incident, along with a cousin, Ali Beydoun, 19, of Livonia. They said that the typically quiet neighborhood was disrupted by the sound of fire sirens at about 11:30 p.m.

Emily Deng lives in the subdivision and was getting dropped off by a friend when they noticed the lights of the police and fire vehicles.

"I didn't see the smoke at first," she said. "I thought it was a party."

The fire department was still on the scene around 1:30 a.m.