What remained of an abandoned house at 39 Lincoln Ave. in Salamanca following a fire Monday afternoon was demolished and fenced off.

SALAMANCA — A fully involved fire at an empty Lincoln Avenue house Monday was contained by firefighters and later demolished, but remained under investigation Wednesday.

Salamanca Fire Chief Tom Sturdevant reported that smoke had been witnessed coming from the abandoned home at 39 Lincoln Ave. at around 2:20 p.m. Monday and was called in by Salamanca Police Chief Jamie Deck.

“He was driving into the city and had seen the smoke,” Sturdevant said. “So he started looking around, and people flagged him down.”

The vacant 1.5-story house was structurally unsound, the fire chief said, so firefighters fought the blaze from the outside only.

“We protected the structure next to it and made sure nobody got hurt,” the chief said. “We went into defense mode and ended up putting it out.”

According to Cattaraugus County property records, the residential lot was assessed at $8,800 with a full market value of about $75,000. H. Lloyd Jacobs is listed as the owner. Sturdevant estimated total damages at about $50,000.

“Eventually it had to be torn down for safety reasons,” he said. The pile of demolished debris was fenced off as of Wednesday.

Sturdevant said most of his crew members were back in service by about 5 o’clock, and he remained on the scene until 8:30 p.m.

The scene is under investigation by the city police and fire departments. Sturdevant said no cause has been declared, but it is believed to have started in the rear of the structure.

While the Lincoln Avenue house burned, a second alarm for a fire at 251 Wildwood Ave. — no more than half a mile away — called some firefighters away at about 3 p.m. Monday.

“It was just a small kitchen fire,” Sturdevant said. “I believe the owners had it pretty much out by the time we got there.”