OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Three people were displaced in East Oakland Wednesday evening after a resident trying to destroy weeds in his yard caught his home on fire, a battalion chief said.

When they arrived on scene around 5:30 p.m., firefighters found the single-family home, located at 9851 Burr St., completely engulfed in flames, battalion chief Bruce Nielsen said.

Fire personnel had the fire under control about 30 minutes later, but the home was totaled, Nielsen said. The Red Cross assisted the displaced residents.

Nielsen said the fire was extremely difficult to fight because the home's two main floors and basement were all burning at once.

He said members of one truck company cut holes in the roof to ventilate the home, while other firefighters simultaneously attacked the flames all on three floors.

About 40 people in total responded to the fire.

"They definitely earned their pay," Nielsen said.

The fire started when one of the homeowners tried to get rid of a pile of weeds in the backyard, according to Nielsen.

It was unclear if the man burned the weeds intentionally or accidentally ignited them, but somehow the vegetation adjacent to the house began burning.

The flames went up the outside of the structure and then got into the home.

Somebody reported the fire by phone while a neighbor went straight to the closest firehouse, which is about half a block away, Nielsen said.

A second house was exposed to heavy heat.

"We got close to losing two houses," instead of one, he said.

A damage estimate was not available Thursday.

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