An Elkmont family lost their home and all of their possessions when fire destroyed their residence Wednesday morning after it had been saved Tuesday night.

The American Red Cross of North Alabama is helping the family of eight people and five dogs. Donations of cash and clothing are being accepted at Elkmont High School for the family. A list of clothing sizes is listed on the Elkmont High School Facebook page.

The family and their canine companions were at home Tuesday night when a family member first noticed fire in a hallway and a passerby saw smoke coming from a bedroom and called 911.

Firefighters from Elkmont, Piney Chapel and Oak Grove-Thach volunteer fire departments battled single-digit temperatures Tuesday night but managed to halt the fire to three rooms on the south end of the house, near the intersection of Elkton and Porter Gin roads, said Elkmont Fire Chief Michael Carter. When firefighters left Tuesday night — one of the coldest this year — they had managed to save the home, the fire chief said. When they were called back at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, the home was destroyed, he said.

“When we got there this morning (Wednesday), the house was pretty much gone,” Carter said. “We don’t know if it rekindled, but when we got there the roof had fallen in. On Tuesday night, we had it contained to two bedrooms and a bathroom on the south end.”

He said he believed the family was either renting or renting to own the home.

The frigid temperatures Tuesday and Wednesday were unmerciful for firefighters.

“It was miserable,” Carter said. “With the cold it was a real fight. All of the hoses and the appliances freeze, and it gets really, really really difficult.”

Firefighters fought the fire for three hours Tuesday night. When water from the hoses and hydrant left an icy path along Elkton, the District 1 county road crew had to come out and sand it to prevent motorists from sliding later.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, the fire chief said.

Limestone County Sheriff’s Office had planned to come to the scene Wednesday morning to assess it and determine if there was anything suspicious. If so, they would have called the Alabama Fire Marshal’s Office to investigate.

Firefighters had to cut through two layers of ceiling with a chainsaw to access the attic Tuesday night, where the fire began, Carter said.

“Normally we could knock through the Sheetrock pretty easily, but when we did that we saw there was a tongue-and-groove ceiling under that,” the fire chief said.

Piney Chapel Fire Chief Lance Pitts said nearly every volunteer fire department in Limestone County has had a major structure fire between December and January because people are “taking drastic measures” to keep warm.

“Firefighting is hard and dangerous when it’s normal,” Pitts said. “Having these conditions makes it doubly hard.”