A Monday evening fire destroyed a vacant Athens Highway house.

Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell called the fire "suspicious," but the cause was still unknown Monday night.

No one was living in the house, located at the intersection of Athens Highway and Gaines Mill Road, and it was not connected to gas or electric utilities at the time of the fire, he said.

The 1,000-square-foot house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at 6 p.m. Monday, and took nearly an hour to extinguish, Kimbrell said. On Monday night, investigators were still on the scene trying to determine the cause of the fire.