Firefighters from five stations were called out to tackle a ferocious fire at a house on New Hey Road, Scammonden, in the early hours of this morning.
Now it looks like the main A640 road will remain closed all day as workers demolish the building.
A passing gritter alerted emergency services to the blazing farmhouse, near Nont Sarah's, at 1.22 this morning.
Slaithwaite, then Elland were first on the scene and the crews saw flames shooting high into the night sky amid the darkness of the moors from well over a mile away.
By the time they arrived, initial incident commander, Matthew Green, of Slaithwaite Fire Station, described the house as "lost". Flames were already pouring out of all the windows and through the roof.
He immediately closed the main A640 road and called in reinforcements from Meltham, Huddersfield and Halifax, who together tackled the blaze with four pumps and one aerial unit.
The fire completely destroyed the large farmhouse, which had recently become vacant. It was a well known local landmark, having been the site of an eco village over the last few years.
Nobody was in the building at the time and, despite enquiries, police have so far been unable to trace the owner.
Fire crews are still damping down the fire, which has completely destroyed the building. The roof has gone, along with some of the exterior walls.
Watch Commander Green, first on the scene with his Slaithwaite crew, said: "We could see the flames as we approached from Pole Moor, it was quite a spectacular sight as there is no street lighting.
"When we arrived, the building was already lost. I closed the road immediately as men were working from the road and vehicles travel at high speed along this stretch.
"There was nobody inside and the the building was already partially collapsed and too dangerous to commit anybody inside. Officers will take a look inside this morning.
"We got the fire under control in around an hour or so, but crews remained on the scene for several hours to dampen down. The building has been completely destroyed by the fire"
The two-storey stone and slate farmhouse, which stands within yards of the main road to Rochdale, is now in a dangerous condition and a structural engineer is due to visit this morning to determine whether it needs to be demolished on safety grounds.
The cause of the fire is not known, and fire investigation officers are also schedules to visit the site today.
The A640 New Hey Road is still closed in both directions between the B6114 and Pole Gate Branch.
