LYSANDER -- An elderly man is homeless after his Lysander house went up in flames Tuesday night.  Fire officials say he tried to put the blaze out himself, but it quickly grew out of control.

"By the time I got to the end of my driveway, flames were pouring out," said Lynn Bogawitch who lives across the street. "very scary especially since an 80-year-old man lives there."

Fire officials say the blaze sparked in his wood stove about 4 Tuesday afternoon but fire crews didn't get the call until about an hour later. The elderly man escaped with his dog as fire crews quickly responded. But by that point the flames were too intense and the home was crumbling.

The home is on Fenner Road in Lysander, right on the border of Oswego and Onondaga County.

Cody Assistant Fire Chief Bruce Butler says the house was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived and the cluttered home made it difficult to fight the fire. "The only entrance to the house was fully involved, our firefighters could not make entrance at that point. We had to move to an outside attack on this," he said.

Another challenge for firefighters was water. There are no fire hydrants on the rural road, so tankers had to pump water down the road, and bring it back to the scene. Assistant Chief Butler says that takes a lot of time and manpower.

The fire was finally put out with the help of 50 firefighters from at least 10 area departments including Granby, Baldwinsville and Plainville to name a few.

The home, which neighbors say is more than 100 years old, is a loss. Neighbors are rallying behind the elderly man who lost everything and giving him a place to stay until he can find a new place to call home. The Red Cross is also helping him.