Homeowner Ruby Roundtree stood at the intersection of Old River and Airport roads Monday afternoon and watched her house burn.

Friends and family stood by her. They helped as she moved cars and a lawn mower from behind the house while volunteer fire departments battled a blaze that shot from the back of the house through the attic and licked at the gutters. She seemed calm and rational, stating simply that, after just one hour there was "nothing left to save."

Greg Eans/The Daily Reflector (ENLARGE)

A Staton House firefighter makes his way to the roof of a home ablaze at 1640 Old River Road on Monday afternoon in Pitt County.

Greg Eans/The Daily Reflector (ENLARGE)

A firefighter works to extinguish the flames at 1640 Old River on Monday.

"We had been gone 10, maybe 15 minutes when her [daughter] friend called and said the house was on fire," Roundtree explained. "I said, 'There ain't no way. We were just there.'"

But the double-wide mobile home a few miles outside of Greenville was ablaze. No one was inside the 1640 Old River Road residence when fire-rescue agencies arrived just before 2 p.m.

Flames devoured the roof and back half of the structure within the first hour of burning. Staton House and Belvoir volunteer fire departments sent for additional manpower and water supplies throughout the operation.

Three engines, a tanker and one support vehicle responded to the scene. Smoke poured into adjacent yards and floated out to Belvoir Highway.

Roundtree said she was unsure where she'd be staying tonight, but Pitt County Red Cross was due to arrive shortly.

"I haven't the slightest idea," she said, shaking her head. "Some can stay at my mom's. We'll get a room or something."

She added that she believes it was an electrical fire. An employee for the Pitt County Fire Marshal's office at the scene said they had not been asked to investigate.

Kathryn Kennedy can be reached at kkennedy@coxnc.com or 329-9566.