No injuries reported in house fire near 17th & South

UPDATE: 

Fire investigators said a man with develop-mental disabilities started the fire.

The blaze began when the man lit some cardboard on fire with a lighter. Officials said the damage to the house is estimated to be around 80 thousand dollars.

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Lincoln Fire and Rescue officials said everybody made it safely out of a house that caught fire near 17th and South Street Wednesday afternoon. 

Crews were called to the scene just after 1:00 p.m., with scanner traffic indicating a woman might have been trapped inside. 

Fire officials said several animals were inside the home, but aside from two cats, all of them had been accounted for. 

A neighbor told Channel 8 what he witnessed.

“I’m driving down the road and then all of a sudden, I heard a loud pop,” Lerry Mawhiney said.  “And the next thing you know, I just saw just a burst of smoke come rolling out of this house.”

Fire investigators are still working to determine what caused the fire, and no damage estimate has been released at this time. 

Officials say the home will likely not be livable for months.