BEDFORD – A single family home was destroyed Tuesday morning in a 3-alarm fire.

According to Fire Chief Scott Wiggin, an off-duty firefighter saw smoke through the trees on Route 101 and followed it to the home, located at 30 Ledgewood Road.

“I thought it was a brush fire at first,” said Firefighter Stephen Brady. “The last thing he expected to find was a house fire.”

Brady was driving in the vicinity of the Hannaford on Jenkins Road when he saw the smoke.

“As I got into the neighborhood, I figured it out pretty quickly that it was a house fire.” Brady, who has a radio in his vehicle, called in the fire to the station, which likely saved critical minutes.

"It's not so much saving the structure, it's more that you never know if someone is incapacitated in the building, or trapped,” Brady said. “Those first couple of minutes are always long.”

Wiggin said the call was received at 10:59 a.m., and firefighters reached the scene by 11:06 to find the home fully involved.

“There was heavy fire at the back of the building,” Wiggin said, which included a screened-in porch and deck area.

Mutual aid was received from Manchester, Amherst, Goffstown, Milford, Merrimack, Hooksett, Derry and Londonderry.

According to Wiggin, about 40 firefighters were on scene and the fire was brought under control in about 50 minutes.

No one was home at the time, Wiggin said, and there were no injuries to firefighters.

According to the town assessor's database, the home is owned by Matthew and Deborah Currier and is assessed at $427,800.

Wiggin said the home is a total loss.

Neighbor Robert Warren was home at the time and saw flames at the rear of the home.

“The flames were literally jumping out of the house,” he said. He said he was glad to see no one was inside at the time.

Wiggin said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.