Gwinnett home destroyed by early morning fire

A Duluth home was destroyed in an early morning fire Tuesday, Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services said.

Firefighters responded to the home on the 2700 block of Rhoanoke Drive around 3:30 a.m. The two-story wood frame home was engulfed in flames, and neighbors feared the couple who lived there was still inside. A police officer later learned the couple was out of town, a fire department release said.

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The home was more than 100 feet off the road on a wooded property. Firefighters had to stretch hoses up the long driveway in order to combat the flames. Once the fire was under control, the home was already a total loss, the release said.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. Lightning struck a tree on the same street around 9 p.m. Monday, but it is not yet known whether the two incidents are related.