Firefighters are still investigating the cause of a fire that destroyed a historic house in Oswego Wednesday.

The 3,000-square-foot house, built in 1902, is believed to be a total loss and is uninhabitable because of fire. No one was home at the time of the fire.

The house, located on two acres of land at 407 Main St., is called The Pillars because of the 36 pillars located in and around the house. About 10:30 a.m. Jan. 24, KenCom Public Safety Dispatch received a call from a passerby that the house was on fire, according to a news release from the Oswego Fire Protection District.

When firefighters arrived, they faced a fire that was rapidly spreading on both the first and second floors of the house. The fire then spread to the attic and quickly engulfed the roof.

A water main break hampered firefighting efforts, fire officials said. Firefighters remained on the scene for almost 12 hours.

Firefighters from Bristol-Kendall, Sugar Grove, Aurora, Naperville and Plainfield departments assisted Oswego firefighters on the scene and numerous neighboring agencies helped provide station coverage as well.

Jeremy Gehman, who is friends with the couple who owns the house, was heartbroken at what happened. He attends church with the couple, Taylor and Laura Birkey, who have four children.

“They are close friends of ours,” he said. “They bought this property to try to open it up to friends and family and spend time together and do church together. They’ve done a lot of work to it in the time they’ve had it, especially on the carriage house, getting it ready for renters. They are passionate about their community. That’s who these people are.”

Dan Becvar also is friends with the couple. Becvar, who lives nearby, raced to the scene after hearing what had happened.

“The homeowner was doing homeschool with a friend of mine,” he said. “And they got a phone call from a neighbor saying, ‘Hey, your house is on fire.’ I got here maybe a half-hour after the fire department got here. The carport was already gone. … It’s terrible. They are a great family and they were putting a lot of work into the house.”

That section of Main Street on Thursday reopened to traffic. A boil order that had been in effect because of the water main break has been lifted. Oswego Public Works Director and Village Engineer Jennifer Hughes on Jan. 25 said her department is not sure when exactly the water main broke, but that it was in conjunction with the fire.

“We don’t know exactly what happened,” she said. “We know that it is an older pipe. Would the main have broken absent of the fire? Possibly. But it happened at roughly the same time.”