NEW BERLIN – A fire that destroyed a long-vacant New Berlin home Sunday afternoon is still under investigation, authorities say.

Neighbors argue the boarded up two-story house at 24 Academy St., unoccupied for five years after being gutted by a previous fire, should have been torn down long ago.

New Berlin Volunteer Fire Department Chief George Hanslmaier said neighbors called in the blaze at 1:11 p.m.

“Upon arriving it was a fully-involved house fire,” said Hanslmaier, whose crew was on the scene for more than five hour, along with state police and volunteers from Pittsfield, Sherburne and South New Berlin.

No injuries were reported. An occupied home next door to the west suffered heat damage, resulting in burnt and melted siding. County and state police investigators are still determining the cause, troopers confirmed, adding that it is not a crime scene.

“If the house was sitting in the middle of New Berlin, they’d have done something about it by now,” said neighbor Lee Foster, whose home was damaged by the blaze. “It’s been an eyesore for years. But it’s on a one-way street that middle class people live on. If someone got hurt – then it would be a problem.”