NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A fire destroyed a house in east Nashville, and neighbors believe it was no accident.

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"These people knocked on the door and it was just blazing out," said Helen Newcome, who lives next door to the abandoned Lutie Street home that burned. "Someone had to put something in there, some kind of incendiary, kerosene or gas or something, because when I came out just a little bit before nothing was going on."

Newcome said someone set fire to the house in May and that she's called the Codes Department but no one's done anything about it.

Newcome had been up since 5 a.m. Thursday, cooking her Thanksgiving dinner, when neighbors knocked on her to tell her about the fire.

The flames were so high, she was worried her home would catch fire, too.

"I'm too old to buy another house," she said. "I've been in that house over 51 years."

Newcome said she was thankful for the firefighters who sprayed her house to prevent it from catching on fire.