A University City house is "pretty much a total loss" after a two-alarm fire that appears to have been caused by lightning, the city's fire chief said Monday.

It happened early Sunday in the 8000 block of Lafon Place, Chief Don Miner of the University City Fire Department said. His department received notification of the fire at about 3:30 a.m. 

No one was at home at the time of the fire, and the blaze was well underway before anyone knew it was burning, Miner said.