NAPERVILLE, Ill. (STMW) – The Hitchcock girls were just out for a run Wednesday morning.

“We were running by and we saw smoke coming out of the two bottom windows,” said 16-year-old Shannon Hitchcock. “We saw flames and ran into (the neighbor’s) house and told him to call 911.”

Minutes later, just before 11 a.m., the Naperville Fire Department was on the scene of a structure fire that burned through the inside of the home at 608 Balmoral Circle.

“There was a report for somebody seeing smoke inside the windows,” said Capt. Kevin Lyne of the Naperville Fire Department.

Nobody was home at the time of the fire, including family pets.

The cause of the fire had not been determined. Damage to the two-story home — which had suffered broken windows, a hole in the roof and smoke damage — was estimated at $250,000, but that figure was just a preliminary number, according to Deputy Fire Chief Bob Bush.

Twenty-two Naperville firefighters were involved in battling the fire, which was found in the living room and basement, and had burned some of the first floor joist.

The fire was largely extinguished within 15 minutes, according to the fire department.

Neighbors were working with the fire department Wednesday afternoon to preserve and secure the home. They called the twin sisters who reported the fire heroes.

“We were just in the right place at the right time,” Shannon Hitchcock said.

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