The North Andover Fire Department has put out a blaze that damaged a single family house on Bixby Street.

Crews responded to 11 Bixby St., a two-story colonial, sometime shortly after 4:30 p.m. Patch Editor Brendan Lewis said no fire was visible, just smoke. Firefighters are looking carefully through the house to make sure no fire remains in the walls, he said.

No one was injured in the blaze.

The fire started in the basement and was contained to that area of the house, Lt. John Weir of the North Andover Fire Department told Patch. One person was home at the time.

Weir said that the fire was extinquished within 15 minutes of firefighters' arrival.

The family will be staying with other family members in the area, Weir said. The house sustained at least $50,000 in damage.

Weir said the fire was difficult to fight due to the fact that there was no bulk head entryway into the basement. He said that getting to the fire meant walking down the interior stairway, which was filled with hot smoke.

"It was like going down a chimney," said Weir.

For more on this incident, check back with North Andover Patch.

For breaking North Andover news as it happens, sign up for the North Andover Patch newsletter.