Thick smoke blew into the air from the residential fire on Wednesday. (Submitted by Andriy Golovchenko)

Linseed oil used in deck work sparked a fire that gutted an Airdrie home, investigators have concluded.

Crews who responded to the fire in the Sunridge neighbourhood on Wednesday afternoon found the back of the house engulfed in flames, said Ken Hubbard, assistant chief of the Airdrie fire department.

Large amounts of black smoke were also billowing from the two-storey home, just north of Calgary.

Linseed oil had been applied to the home's deck on Tuesday using rags, which were then left in a bucket to dry. Heat from the sun caused a "thermal reaction" with the oil which then ignited the rags, investigators said on Thursday.

The fire spread to the deck, then to the house where damage is estimated at $300,000.

Two adjacent homes suffered minor damage to their siding and fences.

No one was hurt in the fire.

With files from the CBC's Andree Lau