(photo by nearby resident Craig, added 4:32 am)
ORIGINAL 3:29 AM REPORT: On our way to check out a “fire in single-family residence” call in the 1700 block of 44th SW (map). Crew on scene just reported on the scanner the fire is “under control.”

3:40 AM UPDATE: As our crew arrives on the scene, Fire Department spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen has just updated the SFD media line: She says it’s a vacant house that was “fully involved” in flames when crews arrived around 3 pm; they took a “defensive position” as a result. Property records say this is a 101-year-old 3-bedroom house. About the same time we were listening to the media line here, our crew on the scene got an in-person briefing from Vander Houwen — she says the house is for sale (we haven’t found a listing online, though) and confirms nobody was home when the fire started; she also says the houses on both sides were evacuated to be on the safe side, but are not damaged, and nobody is hurt. It’ll be a while before investigators can go in to figure out how it started. We’ll add video to this story in a bit.

4:19 AM UPDATE: In this clip, you see/hear the start of Vander Houwen’s briefing until we veer off onto the firefighters pouring water on the still-smoky house:

The station she mentioned as “just down the street” is Fire Station 29, which indeed is just three blocks southwest. Meantime, we got this note from area resident Craig:

I was the first one on the scene of the house fire in north Admiral. I woke up to the light smell of smoke, and thought, “who’d be having a fire right now?”

I decided I’d best look out the window, and it was a dense fog. In shorts and barefoot, I ran up to the next block and found flames coming out a basement window of a house in the 1700 block.

I can’t tell you how surprised I am at how well people sleep! I made a lot of noise and a neighbor across the street eventually came out and called 911.

The house that burned is an old house that had just been remodeled. They had split the lot and built a tall skinny house on it last year. Both houses have been for sale for a long time.

He also says one of the adjacent houses IS damaged – and he sent the two photos we’re adding at the top and bottom of this story:

We’ll keep checking with SFD till they determine and announce the fire’s cause.

11:36 AM UPDATE: The Fire Department says the cause is undetermined but police are helping investigate. We have started a new story with more information that’s just be released; see it here.