JEFFERSON TWP — A Sunday night fire made quick work of a 150-year-old house that was sold less than three weeks ago, authorities said.

A passing motorist shortly before 10 p.m. spotted flames from the home in the 400 block of Riemer Road and called 911.

“The entire house was engulfed when we got there and we couldn’t make any kind of entry,” said Chief Chris Ballina of the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company. “Fire was shooting through all the windows, and it burned through the roof minutes later.”

It appeared the blaze started in the rear of the house.

“The front of the house is still standing but the back of the house is completely gone,” Ballina said.

The state police fire marshal was called but it was not known if that office would even bother with an investigation.

“There’s so much damage that a cause will probably never be known,” Ballina acknowledged.

News of the fire shocked former owner Colette Sharkins of Cheswick, Allegheny County. She and her late husband bought the house in 2002, according to Butler County Assessment Office records.

Sharkins said her husband died shortly after they remodeled the house. She placed the home up for sale in the fall.

“I just closed on it Jan. 7,” she said.

The new owners apparently had yet to move in.

A damage estimate was not immediately available.

Saxonburg firefighters also had to deal with another problem — weather.

The department’s engine got stuck on the ice-covered driveway. Chains were placed on the engine’s tires but to no avail. Eventually, a tanker had to be called and pulled the engine out.

It wouldn’t be until nearly 3:30 a.m. today that Saxonburg crews were finally back at their station.

Assisting the Saxonburg VFC were firefighters from Winfield, Sarver, Herman, Buffalo Township and Penn Township.