CANTERBURY – A house at 40 Brooklyn Road in Canterbury was destroyed by fire Thursday afternoon and fire officials were concerned because they could not find the homeowner.

The owner of the house is James Benoit, according to Benoit's father, Jim, who was standing in the yard Thursday afternoon while firefighters battled the blaze.

The Canterbury Fire Department was called to the scene at 1:12 p.m. on Thursday. Half of the house was fully involved when firefighters arrived, Plainfield Fire Marshal Paul Yellen said.

"The living room was heavily involved and the fire was making its way down the hallway," Yellen said.

Yellen said the firefighters didn't have enough water to fight the fire so they called in tanker trucks from neighboring departments. It took a while for them to arrive, he said, and in the meantime they set up a water shuttled from the Canterbury Town Hall, which was two miles away.

Yellen said firefighters were concerned when they couldn't find Benoit, whose car was parked in the driveway.

Benoit's wife, Annie Benoit, and his parents were watching the fire from the road. They made calls to Benoit's cell phone but got no answer, Yellen said.

Fire crews completed a full search of the house, but did not find Benoit, Yellen said.

"We've been trying to locate him and haven't found anyone inside," Yellen said around 5:30 p.m. Thursday. "We will continue to search in the house, around the property and at other locations where he could be present."

By 4 p.m. the fire had mostly been put out, but the house was a total loss, Yellen said.

In addition to two fire trucks from the Canterbury Fire department, eight other fire companies provided mutual aid. They include Oneco, Moosup, which also sent a ladder truck; Dayville, Griswold, Scotland, South Killingly, Central Village and Baltic.

Canterbury Assistant Fire Chief Doug Smith said the cause of the fire has not been determined and it is still under investigation.