Fire crews in Saskatoon were on the scene for more than five hours early Thursday morning, fighting an intense blaze that destroyed two homes.

Firefighters were called to the 700 block of Brightsand Crescent at about 2:30 a.m. CST.

When they arrived on the scene flames reached 10 meters into the air and had spread to the roof of an adjacent house.

A second alarm was sounded and eight fire trucks and 32 firefighters were dispatched to the scene.

The fire was brought under control in a little more than an hour, but crews remained on scene for several more hours, putting out hot spots and mopping up.

No one was in the first home, where the fire started, and fire officials reported that people from the second home were able to evacuate the building safely.

Crews had to pull back at one point while searching the second home after the roof began to collapse.

An investigator was at the scene throughout Thursday, trying to determine the cause of the fire.

At one point, a back hoe was used to remove some of the debris from the severely damaged house, in an attempt to determine the cause.

Fire officials determined the structure was a hazard to surrounding houses and had the remaining structure torn down.

The estimated damage to both homes was around $1 million.

No injuries were reported.