NEW FAIRFIELD — Neighbors helped firefighters extinguish a home that caught on fire Saturday afternoon.

Crews initially heard a generator at Lloyd Avenue was in flames, so a firefighter at the Ball Pond firehouse grabbed an extinguisher and headed down the street, Mike O’Toole, assistant chief, said in a post on the New Fairfield Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page.

But the firefighter soon realized the situation was much worse. Most of the home was already in flames.

Fire crews quickly deployed hose lines, but struggled getting around the neighborhood because of the down power lines from the recent storm, according to the Facebook post.

But neighbors helped the department drag the fire house, moved cars and brought equipment to crews.

In the Facebook post, O’Toole said he appreciated the residents.

“Thank you to all the residents who came out of there homes to help us out during this hard week we all been having,” he said. “Glad to see my neighbors all get together to help someone else.

Firefighters from Putnam Lake, Sherman and Danbury also assisted.

Everyone had evacuated the home before the fire department arrived.

The state fire marshal is investigating what caused the fire.

The town fire marshal reminded residents in a Facebook post to use “extreme caution” as the town recovers from last week’s storm, which knocked out power to nearly everyone in town. Residents were urged not to leave candles or oil lamps unattended and to not burn brush without a permit. The fire marshal also asked residents to stay away from power lines.